I am Justice
by Lady Shikyo
Summary: He is a fool. A bloody fool. But even a fool can be dangerous" Full summary inside. Eventual name spoilers…and despite how this story starts, don't expect it to stay serious for too long
1. Prologue: Watching From Above

Hello people! I just wanted to tell you that I will be calling 'Light' Raito, for those of you who don't know they're the same person. And I can promise you, this story will not be angst, it just might look that way right now. It's probably not going to end up very drama-y either.....

Special thanks to **Star Jinin** for reminding me that this story exists! It's not finished yet, but now it's near the top of my 'Stories to Write' list (right after Of SSJ, which I have serious writers block on)

Full summary:

Three years after his death, L is given a chance to turn back time and save the world from the new God of the World known as Kira; aka Light; aka Raito. Only, who would of guessed that _he_ would be the one to offer him this chance…

L would not die this time, no matter what, and he _will_ win this game they play.

* * *

Endless screens, buzzing that near-silent buzz of electricity, their glow the only light in the room. Just enough light to reveal two forms. One smaller than the other, a boy with snow white hair that layered itself over the boy's neck and shoulders. It's longer than it was three years ago, back when the world was suddenly restricted to a dull black and white; back when the plan failed. The other figure is taller, with short-cut blonde hair that frames his face. His is shorter than it was before; it no longer touches his shoulders.

They both watch the screens, unblinking. The smaller one suddenly moves towards the other and speaks "It's time to go" The blond shifts nervously "You know, you don't have to…"

"No, I want to see him" the blond shakes his head and stands up, giving the boy a shaky smile "Let's go" the boy squeezes the other's arm comfortingly before linking their arms and pulling the blonde to the door.

* * *

The brunette man, to anyone who didn't know him well, seemed to be calm, maybe a little bored, and alone as he sat on the train. In truth he was _very_ bored, but opposed to being calm he was highly agitated; as an acquainted person would be able to tell by the twitch in one of his crimson-tainted eyes It had been a feeling he couldn't shake off since that murder three years back. Funny, how the man could kill an uncounted number of people and not feel the slightest guilt (for he believed they deserved to die) but the death that had effectively placed him on his thrown was the one he was never at peace about (but he still believed the man had needed to die). It wasn't that he had committed the murder inadequately; he had reviewed the incident in his mind multiple times and each time he came to the conclusion that it had been executed perfectly. It wasn't that he had been particularly close to the man; sure he had been handcuffed to him for a time, but even that hadn't brought them very much closer. So what was it that he was unsettled about? He drummed his fingers on the metal rail as his thoughts ran in circles.

The man was also far from alone. The invisible shape of the Shinigami loomed over the brunette, watching the people and scenery that flashed by the window. The creature floated up and down and up and down, not really thinking about anything. He had found himself doing this far too often these days, reminding him of the old times in the Shinigami world. The Shinigami finally let a single thought float into his mind and he sighed, drawing the attention of the brunette. "I'm sorry Raito, but the apples just aren't cutting it anymore"

The death god shimmered and vanished, and the brunette shot out of his seat "Ryuk? Ryuk!" the other passengers starred at the brunette as he called for his Shinigami, his head flipping back and forth searching for the Shinigami.

He heard another sigh, and the death god's voice echoed "You have grown dull, Raito. Dull, and dependent..."

* * *

Long blonde hair whipped out behind the figure, the wind slapping her exposed face and neck, as she stared out over the city scenery with half lidded eyes, one brown and the other crimson. She did not seem to feel the bitter cold wind that threatened to toss her over the edge at any moment.

"Why…" her small voice was almost too quiet to be heard "Why did he go so far? I trusted him, I loved him, and yet he still cannot see that what he's doing will force me away--has forced me away--and all who have ever loved him, leaving him alone with nothing" water slid down her cheeks, the tears stained black from the make-up that framed her death colored eyes "Why has it all turned out like this? It wasn't supposed to turn out this way…Rem didn't want this…"

An eerie, slightly deranged smile drifted over the girl's features "Rem…will I get to see you again?" she tipped forward, and just as her feet left the concrete that towered high above the busy streets, "I'd like that…"

* * *

The strange man stared down at the land below him through the clouds. His head rested on his knees and his thumb on his lips as he watched the people go along with their lives. He watched strangers, people he had once known, and people he wished he had never met. That's all his existence was now; watching others. He couldn't _do_ anything, but he could watch. He had memorized every persons' face, name, life and schedule, and he had grown terribly bored with it all. He never grew tired, never grew hungry (a sensation he had grown to miss), never grew old like those below. The pattern of his existence was forever the same, until this day. On this day he would begin his path to revenge.

An ever-grinning being appeared before the man, breaking the pattern. "Hello again. I have a proposition for you…"


	2. Chapter 1: The First Meeting

Chapter 1: The First Meeting

Okay, be prepared for a whole lot of weird in this story. I've pretty much included all of my freakish ideas in this, and then ran wild with them. So yeah. They might not appear in this chapter, but believe me they will. Enjoy!

- - - - - - -

L stood silent in the room he had died in. The detective had changed the room--he had changed all of the rooms--but it was still hard to breathe when he was in here. The memory seemed so fresh, even though it had happened years ago. He supposed you wouldn't be likely to forget something like that. And Watari; he had almost cried when he saw Watari. Seeing the old man alive again seemed more miraculous to him than his own rebirth. L had missed him so much; in his 'home' (as he had reluctantly begun to call it) in the sky there had been no one to accompany him. He'd been all alone.

L had been dubious at first, but now he didn't care if this was all a dream, or a nightmare. Watari was back, and that logically meant that his heirs were, too. Well, Near had never actually _died_ but losing everyone who had even half of his intellect left life without much of a point. Now all L had to do was make sure that his family was never put at risk again, and kill Kira.

Raito.

The mere name now made the detective cringe. He was going to have to do something about that. It wouldn't do for the team to think that L just didn't like Raito (even though that was true now, to some extent) and so the detective was claiming he was Kira. In order to avoid that, L had had to play things exactly the same as he had last time. The waiting for the staff to start resigning, revealing himself to the team, the video cameras and microphones—everything. But only for the beginning. After all, what was the point of making a deal with Death God--a deal that brought you back from the dead and turned back time--if one was not going to do things differently?

A chuckle behind him drew L out of his thoughts "Are you nervous?"

The detective didn't even look at the Shinigami "Why would I be nervous?"

"This is where everything changes, right? You have to play this perfectly, or else everything could be ruined. Plus, from what I gather from humans, what has happened to you could be considered…unnerving."

"It was a surprise, that's for sure. I can guarantee that near 0% of the common human populace honestly expect to be resurrected by a Death God." L smiled "But apparently, I'm far from the 'common human populace'. If that's a good or bad thing, I can only guess"

Ryuk chuckled "I knew I made the right choice when I decided to bring you back"

"How long until you have to return to Raito?"

Ryuk floated past L "Kira's used to me disappearing, but I suppose I should start getting back." L's smile grew; Ryuk refused to call Kira by Raito--something to do with keeping everything balanced in the game--but they both knew they were one and the same. "Besides, Kira has an exam soon. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

The detective turned to leave the room "Goodbye, Ryuk. See you soon"

- - - - - - -

"Student 162. Please sit properly"

The small middle-aged man spoke with an irritating authority. L ignored him. Instead he looked straight ahead, to the desk two students ahead of him. To the teenager known as Raito Yagami. Said teenager was holding eye-contact with L, his attention no doubt gained when the teacher had spoken. It did not escape L's notice (which would be pretty hard to do) that Ryuk was floating by Raito, grinning knowingly. L did his best to keep his eyes from wandering to the Shinigami. The detective smiled at Raito, and spoke without looking at the teacher "Properly? There is a proper way to sit? I am amazed"

The teacher looked shocked, and then he scowled "Are you talking back to me?"

"That would be a probable thesis"

"Keep this up and you won't be finishing this test, or moving on to college"

L finally spared the man a glance "How about this: if you let me sit this way--without shoes--and I pass the exam without a single flaw, then you never mention this to anyone. If you let me sit this way--still, without shoes--and I make one mistake, then I don't tell anyone about Misora-san"

The teacher stared speechless at L. Then, "How--w-what does Misora have to do with this?! Don't change the subject!"

"Oh?" L looked at the teacher wide-eyed "So you don't mind if I tell everyone what you and Misora-san get to doing in the janitor's closet every--"

"FINE!!! Sit however you want!" the man's cheeks carried a slight blush as he quickly stalked away to the front of the room. L sat smiling, silently celebrating his tiny victory, and ignoring the students that stared at him. Of these students Raito was included.

Eventually people stopped staring and returned to their exams. Fifteen minutes later L rose and brought his test to the front desk, where he left it there and walked out of the classroom without a word.

- - - - - - -

The classroom door closed with a thud, and almost instantaneously the whispers started.

"That was fast"

"He couldn't have possibly finished the exam that quickly"

"It must have been too hard for him and he quit"

"No shit. Did you see his hair?"

"Bet he's a real slob"

"He was hot"

"Yeah. I'd like to see what he's got under those--"

Raito stood up abruptly at this point. He had already finished the test, and he had been going to sit there a little longer but he couldn't stand the childish chatter. He glided to the front of the room much more gracefully than L's hunched walk, and he ignored the awed stares (though he did notice that they were far different from the skeptical ones the other strange teenager had gotten) as he turned in his exam and left the room.

The brunette opened the door to find the stranger staring down at the tennis courts through the window. The stranger turned as he heard the door open and close, and smiled at Raito. "You have finished already?"

"Yes" Raito made a move to leave, but the other teenager carried on.

"Do you think you did well?"

Raito internally sighed and resigned himself to joining the hunched over stranger by the window_. I guess I'm not getting back to writing in the Death Note any time soon_ "I believe I did very well" Raito put on his most innocent and kind voice while he spoke.

The stranger smiled, though it seemed slightly forced. Or maybe it was just Raito's imagination. "I expected no less from you, Yagami-kun"

Raito frowned "How do you know my name?"

"Many people know your name; it's hard to have your kind of reputation and have people _not_ know"

"Er, yeah, I guess…" _What is with this guy? _"How about you? You came out before I did; was it really that easy or did you just give up?"

The stranger--to Raito's shock--_pouted_ "I did not give up. I finished around five minutes ago; I sat there for a few minutes but I got bored"

Raito let his expression show his surprise "It seriously took you just _ten minutes_ to finish that exam?"

The stranger raised an eyebrow "It wasn't like it was a difficult test. Frankly, I find that if a test of any kind spells 'the' wrong or uses the wrong form of 'to', you can't take it too seriously"

"Don't you think that people can make mistakes occasionally?"

The ebony-haired teenager looked Raito straight in the eyes with an unblinking stare, and Raito felt his heart skip a beat "In real life one can never afford to make mistakes; one slip-up, and your whole world could fall to ruin. People will take whatever they can and use it against you. The human race is filled with those who corrupt and those who lie and cheat, kill and maim." the stranger looked back out the window, a faint sadness in his eyes "It is simply the way the world is, but there is no doubt that things would be better off without these people"

Raito absorbed everything the other said, and then he smiled (or maybe grinned in a slightly sinister way better describes it). Screw appearances--he liked this guy! Sure, the guy didn't look like he knew what a hairbrush was and the crouched way he sat and walked was a bit strange, but what he had just said was the entire basis for what Raito was trying to accomplish as Kira. Someone who had views this similar to him could come in handy. Now all he had to do was see if he was completely in on the Kira thing (of course, he would never tell the stranger he was Kira; that would be amazingly stupid) Asking upfront about Kira would be a bit suspicious, so he would have to befriend the other first.

"What's your name?" the question had a tad of real warmth to it.

"You can call me Ryuuzaki" he held out his hand and Raito took it.

"You obviously know my name, and there's no need to call me Yagami. You can just call me Raito" Raito guessed that since Ryuuzaki instantly stuck -kun on the end of his name when he first said it, being told he could call Raito by his first name would be a great good-will gesture.

He guessed right "Thank you, Raito-kun!" Ryuuzaki cocked his head a bit as he said Raito's name and smiled.

Raito released Ryuuzaki's hand "You wanna go to a café or something? Talk a bit?"

A look of surprise crossed Ryuuzaki's face "Oh, sure. I guess"

"I know this probably seems sudden, but I find you very interesting."

"I assure you, the sentiment is mutual"


	3. Chapter 2: The First Touch

My story's been favorited. My story's been _favorited_. Woohoo! I'm happy! Thank you thank you thank you!!! I love it when I check my email to find out that someone is actually reading my stuff. If you don't mind my putting your name here, tell me in a PM or review. Big hint to other people: I love reviews and you will be mentioned and responded to. I always give readers their dues, so _please_ review. Yes, I am begging here.

Special thanks to **4udball** and **Black-Dranzer-1119** for being my first reviewers!

Thanks also to those who story alerted this ^^ (see? I get everybody)

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

- - - - - - -

"Watari! I'm back!" L called as he stepped into his building, the sliding doors shutting and locking behind him. A picture of Watari popped up on the TV above the front desk.

"Welcome back, Master L" the old man's voice echoed out of the intercom "How was your day? Was it a success?"

L shrugged and started for the elevator. The building was eerily quiet, as L had given the whole staff off today and the investigation team wasn't due to come in yet "It was alright. I'm 94% sure the suspect trusts me." the elevator doors slid closed, L pushed a number, and the elevator began to rise. "I'll be explaining to the team today how we'll handle Raito-kun..."

There was silence for a moment before L spoke "Do we have any strawberry shortcake left?"

"Of course, Master L" L made an appreciative noise, and the elevator made a _ding_ sound declaring that the elevator had stopped.

The doors opened just as Watari was placing a plate of shortcake on the table in front of the sofa "Shortcake!" L sang as he climbed onto the sofa, quickly taking a fork and spearing a piece off the slice. _So good…_ L thought as the cake practically melted on his tongue. He smiled at the old man "Thank you Watari!"

Watari bowed slightly, returning the smile "Will that be all?"

"Yes" the elder straightened and left the room, off to do one chore or another, leaving L to think back on his conversation with Raito at the café. He had been surprised at how different Raito seemed when he didn't think he was in the presence of someone trying to prove him of being a killer. Sure, this was only the beginning and Raito might not be completely obsessed with his antics as Kira yet, but even when he had forfeited the Death Note and truly believed himself to be innocent he hadn't been this…

L speared off more of the cake impatiently. He didn't like how different this Raito seemed from the one he had known and observed. Kira hadn't been mentioned _once_ during their conversation in the little café! The detective had predicted that this might happen but he really hadn't believed it. L sighed "Oh well…" he muttered "There's still a little time before the graduation, where I won't be able to avoid letting Raito finding out the name 'Ryuuzaki' is fake. There's only so much I can influence in the education world without becoming dangerously suspicious." He was confident in his acting skills, but L knew that even this…_warmer_ Raito would have figured out by the next time he saw him that L had said near to nothing about himself or how to contact him, while Ryuuzaki had managed (though he hadn't needed to) to get the brunette's address. That is, if Raito hadn't already figured it out.

L ate the last crumb of cake and stood up, wandering to a window that overlooked the city. The streets below were crowded with people and it was exactly the same as when L was in the clouds, but something seemed different. It was livelier now, though he couldn't come up with a single reason why. L shook his head and pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and smiled (although the smile was a bit more mischievous than it used to be) at the numbers written in perfect handwriting "I suppose I shall drop in on my 'new friend' before graduation…"

- - - - - - -

The brunette typed away at his computer rapidly, a small frown lacing his features. A large creature dressed in black clothes floated upside down in the corner, chewing away at a few blood-red apples. The Shinigami appeared to be ignoring the brunette, and the brunette the Shinigami.

Ryuk swallowed the core of his last apple just as Raito shoved the keyboard away, sighing "I can't find a single thing about him!"

The Shinigami rotated so he was no longer upside down "Who?"

"Ryuuzaki" Raito muttered. He couldn't believe how oblivious he had been while talking with the teenager "I don't even know the guy's last name, and do you know how many people are called Ryuuzaki? In Japan alone?" Had all of his brain cells suddenly fallen unconscious in Ryuuzaki's presence, bursting into life only after the crouched teenager had left his sight? Raito dropped his head into his hands "Stupid stupid stupid…"

Ryuk floated over to him "It's not like you told him you were Kira; Kira didn't even come up. Is it really all that bad?"

Raito's head snapped up, anger obvious in his eyes "Of course it is! If he is in _any_ way related to L or the police then any single thing I said uncensored could be used against me!" Ryuk jumped at the boy's outburst, the display of anger one that only appeared when L was directly brought up, rarely even then. But, as usual, Raito seemed to calm down almost instantly, looking away before speaking quietly "….I'll have to kill him"

Ryuk frowned. If Raito ever got his hands on L's real name this early in the game, all the Shinigami's work would have been for nothing "How are you going to get his whole name?"

Raito smiled slightly "I'll simply ask. It wouldn't be that strange of a question, and then I'll kill him in a simple accident a week or two from now"

"And you will get in contact with him how? You don't have anything on him; phone number, address, last name….you really did screw up this time, didn't you?"

The brunette glared at Ryuk and ignored the comment, going for the earlier question "He'll probably--no, definitely--come to me on his own. He has my address; it's only a matter of time"

- - - - - - -

"_WHAT?!_" L flinched slightly at the sharp sound of Matsuda's exclamation.

"I said it in perfectly plain Japanese, didn't I?"

"Yes, but--"

"Matsuda" Soichiro Yagami intervened quietly, but commandingly "Calm down" under the man's stern gaze Matsuda reluctantly backed down, seating himself back on the couch. After he was sure Matsuda would stay, Yagami turned to L "While Matsuda's outburst wasn't quite called for, I agree with him. What makes you so interested in my son? What has he done to make you so certain of your suspicion of him? You said yourself that the probability wasn't even 10%"

L sighed inwardly; he'd known that percentage would come back to haunt him. "Yes, that is true. But your son has the intellectual capacity and the personality that could drive him to be Kira. I'd say the percentage is now closer to 10%"

Soichiro frowned "What do you mean his 'personality'? How would you know what he's like?"

"Do you think that I am not intelligent enough to gather his personality from watching him constantly for five days?" L and Soichiro held each other in unblinking stares, the rest of the team fidgeting nervously.

Soichiro finally looked away, sighing "Fine…"

"Thank you" L returned to his tea, and began loading it with enough sugar to kill the Easter Bunny "It's really quite simple; all you have to do is never refer to me as being L. To all of the team, L will still be a voice behind a screen. Now, you all know that there are cameras everywhere, so I _will_ know if there is a slip-up" the detective made sure to look at everyone as he said this, paying special attention to Matsuda "…unless there are questions, that's all. We can start work for today"

"Uh…" Matsuda started "I still don't see why we have to lie for yo--" Aizawa rammed his elbow into Matsuda's side, effectively cutting him off mid-sentence

"We're all fine; no questions!" with that, the team all stood up and headed to the workroom (a different room from the original one, as L still felt uneasy inside it). L waited until almost everyone was gone before he spoke again "Yagami-san" the middle-aged man paused in the doorway and looked back at him "Be aware that the effects of this decision start immediately, and that no matter how or where you see me you will never connect me with being L out loud. You understand?"

Soichiro raised an eyebrow but nodded, and L smiled "Good"

The two joined the rest of the team in the workroom and started a long, dull day of pointless work. Well, pointless to L anyway; he already knew everything that would happen. Nothing new or interesting was coming his way. Well, at least not until tonight...

- - - - - - -

Raito spun in circles on his chair, bored out of his mind. The raging storm outside had knocked out the electricity, so he had no way of getting knew names for the Death Note. The computers were dead, the TV was dead, the lights were dead…_nothing _was working. The storm had started early, leaving the Yagami family to a candle-light dinner. Which would have been nice if they could have cooked anything; microwave, oven, stove--all gone. They were lucky that Sayu seemed to have a stash of junk food a mile wide hidden somewhere in her room. This was the first (and last) night the Yagamis had had a dinner that consisted of chips, soda, candy, pre-made popcorn, jerky, and other various fat-filled items. And, of course, there wasn't even any fruit because Ryuk had stolen the fruit bowl.

Raito let his spinning slow to a stop, and waited a moment for his vision to focus as well. Once he could see straight, his eyes landed on the glass door that attached to the miniature balcony that stuck to the side of the room. The curtains were drawn over them, so he couldn't see the rain but he could hear it beat against the glass. He didn't know why, but he decided to move to the balcony and pull aside the curtains, letting him look out onto the street. Or at least, it would have if there had been anything to see; the clouds had covered all sources of light, covering the entire outside world in an inky blackness.

It was almost scary, as if everything had been swallowed up by some monster. Raito decided that this description was a bit ironic, considering that a monster of sorts had vanished after abducting all the fruit in his house.

Eventually coming to the conclusion that staring into nothing was about as productive as spinning in his chair, he moved to turn away, but something caught his eye. Somewhere around where the street should have been, a patch of white had flashed in the brightness of a lightning bolt. The brunette watched the area intensely, waiting for another strike of lightning to reveal the patch once again.

His patience was rewarded with a bright streak across the sky, throwing the world into existence and revealing the subject that caught Raito's attention: Ryuuzaki. That split second of sight was enough for the prodigy to recognize him; he wore the same white shirt and jeans he had worn when Raito had first met him and even if he hadn't been, Raito knew he could never mistake anything or anyone for the teenager.

Before he knew what he was doing Raito was racing out of the house, his footsteps light on the stairs, and narrowly avoiding a collision with his father on the way, who was exiting the bathroom. He ignored his father's startled questions and threw open the front door, not bothering to get even a coat; it would be pointless in this weather. Now he was standing closer and could see Ryuuzaki more easily, though Raito didn't know what to make of what he saw. Ryuuzaki was just standing there, with eyes closed and his head tilted back to face the sky; not a thing to protect him from the rain that pelted him. Perfectly still he stood, a tiny smile gracing his lips, looking perfectly at peace as if he wasn't being attacked by stinging bullets of water. He didn't even seem to register the door to the house flying open.

Raito snapped out of his trance and ran over to the other, grabbing onto the oblivious teenager's forearm "Ryuuzaki!"

At the sound of his name Ryuuzaki's eyes snapped wide open and he yanked his arm out of Raito's grip, as if burned. The black-eyed teenager looked lost for a moment before looking at Raito "Raito-kun…?" the murmur was barely audible over the roar of the rain.

"Come inside" Raito nodded his head in the direction of the house "And then you can explain what you're doing here." the brunette turned and started back to his home, only looking back to make sure Ryuuzaki was following.

As soon as they were both inside Raito shut the door, blocking the rain that had already blown indoors and formed a puddle in the entryway. He let out a long breath and then turned back to Ryuuzaki, but once again the other's appearance silenced him. The low light the candles released gave Ryuuzaki an appearance between celestial and demonic. The shadows deepened the darkness of the bags under his eyes, and the neutrality of his expression made him look like death. But the honey-coloured light released from the candles made his pale skin a soft milky colour, and the flames' reflections glittered in his eyes, giving them life. When he moved the light shimmered off of the water still clinging to him. Raito could only stare at him, analyzing every detail on the fallen angel's face, until the angel's eyes turned to meet his. For some reason, this called Raito back to reality. "Ah…so, why were you out there?"

"I decided to come visit Raito-kun!" a child's smile emerged on Ryuuzaki's face.

Raito frowned "When did you decide to do that? It's been raining for hours"

Ryuuzaki stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged "I took my time in coming"

"You…" Raito shook his head "What do you mean you 'took your time'?"

The other shrugged again "I don't know how else to say it. I was leisurely in my approach to the location that is your residence. I took my time"

The brunette sighed "Fine. You took your time. You decided to visit me, so the idea was to enter the house, right?" Ryuuzaki nodded, an eyebrow raised "Then why were you simply standing under a torrent of rain in _front_ of my house"

Ryuuzaki was silent for a moment "I was feeling the rain. It's been a very…long…time since I've felt the rain"

Raito frowned again "Feeling it? It's only rain. Why?"

"Because" Ryuuzaki looked at Raito again, black eyes boring into chocolate ones in complete seriousness "It makes me feel alive"

The two watched each other for a long moment before Raito felt a smile tugging at his lips, and he didn't know why. He decided to play along with the strange feeling, and chuckled "Alive, huh?" he felt his hand rise and brush against Ryuuzaki's face, rubbing away some of the water that was streaming down from his hair "I don't get it. I don't get it at all" the pale boy's cool skin felt nice and smooth against Raito's hand, and he found he didn't want to pull away. Ryuuzaki's eyes widened slightly as Raito's hand lingered.

Someone cleared their throat, and the brunette tore his eyes away from Ryuuzaki to find his father, who was standing at the end of the hall, watching the two with something unfamiliar to Raito in his eyes.

"Who is this, Raito?" Soichiro's voice was calm and collected.

"He's an old friend from high school" the lie fell easily and instantly from Raito's tongue.

"I can see that" a hint of amusement. Raito blinked and then glanced at Ryuuzaki, snatching his hand back when he realized what he was doing. His father continued, as if he didn't notice "But _who _is he; what is his name? Why is he here?"

"He…" Raito glanced at Ryuuzaki again "I don't know. He was out in the rain--I saw him from my window--all alone, so I…" he stopped. Why had he gone to get Ryuuzaki? He had decided he wanted him dead, and bringing him to shelter wouldn't help him any. If Ryuuzaki died from pneumonia or something (doubtful, but still) before Raito new his name then there would be no way to connect the death to him. And why…why did he like the feel of his skin?

"I seem to have been caught in the rain unawares" Ryuuzaki stepped forward, shaking off the tingling on his cheek and taking control of the conversation "I'm sorry for inconveniencing you. You can call me Ryuuzaki" he held out his hand but Soichiro ignored it, instead looking him over.

"You're soaked. I guess the least we can do is give you a new set of clothes, and somewhere to stay until the rain lets up" his gaze turned to his son "Take Ryuuzaki to your room and get him something to wear; you look roughly the same size…closer than I am anyway" he turned and shuffled away towards his room "If the rain doesn't let up feel free to stay overnight, since Raito knows you"

Soichiro's bedroom door closed and the two teenagers were left alone. "…well, my room's upstairs" Raito glanced at Ryuuzaki. He was still dripping water and despite the honeyed candle light, his skin looked paler than he remembered. He tried to forget how soft it had felt "You want to take a shower?"

Ryuuzaki cocked his head "I have just been in the rain--falling water, which is much the same as a shower--for an undetermined amount of time. Why would I need a shower?"

"Because you were in the _freezing _rain, and I'm guessing the 'undetermined amount of time' was longer than a few minutes." Raito crossed his arms "And just because it's rain water doesn't mean it's clean"

Ryuuzaki narrowed his eyes "Well then, Raito-kun was in the dirty rain as well. Maybe he should take a shower…"

Raito blinked "…alright"

A surprised look crossed Ryuuzaki's face "Wh…" he seemed to rethink what he was going to say, and a small smile graced his features "Ok then"

- - - - - - -

Raito found himself once again spinning in circles in his chair as he waited for Ryuuzaki to finish showering. For a reason Raito couldn't even begin to decipher Ryuuzaki had insisted that Raito shower first, so Raito was already dry and dressed. The ceiling spun as he thought and wondered what the hell he was doing. A possible threat to his God-hood was standing in his shower, and Raito was doing nothing about it. Well, near nothing; he had looked through Ryuuzaki's clothes for any kind of ID, but there wasn't a thing to find. There wasn't even a wallet. Ryuuzaki got stranger the longer Raito thought about him. He seemed to be just as competent as Raito, but they were so completely different in other areas. By appearance alone one would think that they wouldn't get along at all, yet that was the farthest thing from the truth.

And why,_ why_ had he touched Ryuuzaki. He hadn't even realized what he was doing until his father spoke up. He didn't understand it, and he hated that.

"I just don't get it…"

- - - - - - -

L sat with his back against the wall in the shower, head tilted back and eyes closed much like they had been in the storm; except now the water that stung his face was warm and not as harsh. He loved this feeling, the feeling of contact all over his body, the feeling that had been denied to him by death for too long. Unlike before he had died, L could now honestly say that he feared death, if only because he knew the lack of feeling that would come with it.

But now was not the time for these thoughts. He was near Kira, he was in Kira's house, and yet the boy called Kira was no longer Kira. The rusty, cinnamony color in his eyes had faded to brown. A simple, innocent brown, only vaguely stained by the red that L remembered so vividly. Raito had changed. He was more…honest, maybe? Not innocent. No, he had been wrong to call the eyes innocent; Ryuk and the death of Misora Naomi had proved that the Death Note was still in Raito's hands. Perhaps 'open' was the right word. It was a word L never would have associated with Raito before, but now…

It was a word that L connected with other boys Raito's age. Young; almost mature but not quite there. More willing to talk or speak without thinking. Sometimes unsure or confused. That was it. Raito was acting like other teenagers his age. An adolescent.

"That is so fucking wrong" L muttered. That was the only way he could describe it. L could be 99% sure that Raito had _never_ had an adolescent personality; at least not before Ryuk had reversed time. So then was this change in personality because of L? Had approaching him as a person instead of as a detective changed all of this? That couldn't be right. Kira had developed much more in Raito by this time before. So what else was different? Had Ryuk done something? Or was the few changes L had made really changed the whole course of anything and everything involved with Kira? Raito?

L raised a hand to his cheek, where Raito had touched. That was certainly something Raito would not have done; but then, had L ever considered Raito's sexuality? Maybe he had, but it wouldn't have had any effect on the Kira case so it wasn't worth remembering. Now L felt he should have paid more attention to Raito and not Kira. But perhaps the touch had nothing to do with Raito's sexuality. It could have been a simple touch and nothing more.

Who was he kidding; this was Japan, and people didn't just walk up and caress other people's faces here.

L opened his eyes, moving the hand to protect them from the water that was now growing cold. He was tired of acting innocent; maybe he could tone that down a bit, be a little more serious. Why not. If Raito's whole personality structure could change, why not L's fake one? He sighed and stood up "Everything's different now. Everything's falling out of my control; that much is for sure" he turned the water off "I just don't understand how"

- - - - - - -

That's it for this chapter. Truthfully, I think this turned out to be kind of dark. And I'm losing control of my plot. Oh well; that's life. For those three or four people I know are reading this, I'd like to see in a review what you think will happen, or why you think Raito is different. If you guess right (or as close to right as you can get with a loose plot like mine) I'll give you a cookie.

And I don't know if this was ever made clear, but yaoi will show up in this fic. And there will be more than one pairing, yaoi or otherwise. Just wanted to warn anybody that didn't know….but please don't leave a nasty review if you didn't know. I mean really; there are almost no competent female characters in the series, so how could it be anything but yaoi? Though I still manage to get het in there, but I'll leave to your imagination who the het pairing is. If you guess and get it right, I'll write a story of your plot choice and dedicate it to you (in all seriousness, because I guarantee you it will be impossible to guess the pairing).

Until next time, if anyone waits to read the rest instead of abandoning it~


	4. Chapter 3: Sayu Is Scary

I'm so sorry that this took so long to get out! I had a really hard time writing this chapter, but I did eventually finish. And all because of Grosse Point Blank and John Cusack's cat, which is pretty surprising to me, because the cat doesn't even appear in the movie…

Ok, now I'm babbling. . .

Anyways, thanks to **4udball, Black-Dranzer-1119, Barranca, Racharae, **and **Celeial's famaliar** for reviewing, and all you people who have put this on Story Alert!

Read and I hope you enjoy!

- - - - - - -

"Ah…"

The room was dark, the only existing light shining from a TV at the foot of a bed, and you could hear rain hitting the room's windows constantly. A girl sat on the bed, her back leaning against the head board, her legs stretched out in front of her. In her lap lay a little black book. She giggled as she watched two figures on the TV screen, her long blonde hair falling in her face. The girl brushed it away before grabbing a remote and pressing a button.

The perspective on the TV changed, now zoomed in on one of the figures faces. It was a man in his late teens, possibly older, with dark circles underlining black eyes. Damp, messy hair framed his face, clinging to it. The dark colors of his hair and eyes clashed with the man's skin, which looked to have seen much too little sun. The girl giggled again and put aside the book and remote, moving forward closer to the TV, her hand rising to trace the man's features. "So this is him…Ryuuzaki…L…heheh"

The blonde lay on her stomach, propping her head up with one hand and fingering a lacy sleeve with the other "He's going to play with me, hmm? This looks to be great fun; I can't wait to start the game. . ."

- - - - - - -

"HEY!" a door flew open and a boy walked in, his blonde hair licking his leather-clad shoulders. "Albino-brat!" he stalked up to another boy who was on the floor doing a puzzle.

"Yes, Mello?" the albino child didn't even look up at the blonde.

Mello fumed "What right do you think you have, calling me up like I'm your lapdog?! You're not my boss, and don't think that I'll do whatever you tell me to!"

"But you still came, didn't you?" the boy smirked slightly, continuing before the blonde could really explode "We have a message from L"

As the albino had expected, the blonde turned serious immediately "L?"

"That's what I said" the albino leaned back to view his finished puzzle: blank white except for an L in Cloister Black in the center.

Mello glared "Is it really him?"

"That's what it looks like" a new voice drew away Mello's attention to a large computer monitor and chair, which turned to reveal a dark-cherry-redhead.

The blonde blinked "Matt?" Mello walked over to the computer "What the Hell are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too" Matt typed away at his keyboard, and the computer screen shifted to a copy of the albino's puzzle.

"Yeah yeah" Mello gestured a gloved hand at the screen "So this isn't a fake?"

"It's like all the other messages: no traces, no signs of where it came from…if it's a fake, it's a _really _good one" he pressed a few more keys and words started to appear on the screen "Though, it isn't spoken like it usually is, and it's addressed to the three of us"

The albino joined the other two by the screen "But it is as straightforward as his messages normally are"

The letters--in vivid red--spelled out one simple sentence.

Come to Japan

- - - - - - -

Raito heard the water shut off and he planted his feet on the floor, bringing his spinning to an abrupt stop. Once again he had to wait for his sight to straighten, and he decided that spinning for extended periods was a bad way to pass the time. The brunette shut his eyes and held his head, trying to force the dizziness away by power of will. He stayed that way for a few minutes until he heard his bedroom door open and footsteps. Raito dared to open his eyes and found Ryuuzaki standing in his doorway awkwardly.

Raito raised an eyebrow "What are you doing?"

"Er, can I come in? You looked kind of…occupied"

Raito laughed a little "No, I was just, uh, thinking. Come in, and close the door; you can hear Sayu snore from across the house otherwise" Ryuuzaki did so and then stood there, and his hands raised a little, as if searching for the pockets that weren't there.

Ryuuzaki looked strange to begin with, but Raito found that he looked even stranger in solid white pajamas. On some it would have looked relatively normal, but on Ryuuzaki it only made his eyes and hair look darker and his overall appearance a bit foreboding. Raito was once again reminded of an angel, though an angel of a different kind.

"I guess you're staying over-night?" the brunette gestured to the door/window, which was still being painted with rainwater.

"So it would seem" Ryuuzaki climbed onto Raito's bed and sat in that strange position he had seen him use in the café.

"Do you always sit like that?" the question slipped out before Raito could stop it.

Ryuuzaki's face stayed neutral "Yes, I do. It helps my thought process"

"It helps…" Raito trailed off as he stared, but he decided not to think too hard on anything Ryuuzaki said or did from now on; it could only lead to a headache.

The room was silent for a moment before Ryuuzaki spoke "I have to admit it creates a nice ambiance, but what's with all the candles?"

"The power's out" Raito was slightly disappointed by the question; with a storm like the one outside, it would be easy to guess why there were no lights besides candles.

"Don't you have a backup generator?"

"Yeah, but that went out too"

"My, what ill fortune..."

Raito snorted, and Ryuuzaki frowned at him "Did I say something to amuse you?"

"It's just…'ill fortune'?" Raito snickered "You sound so formal, like a diplomat. It makes you seem much older"

The pale teenager pouted, making Raito realize that until now Ryuuzaki had been more or less serious and neutral "I don't see what's wrong with my speech"

Raito smiled "I never said there was anything wrong with it; I suppose it fits your _unique_ appearance…"

"You're really not helping your case"

The brunette's smile widened "I didn't know I was being judged"

"Everyone is always being judged; it is the way of man"

"You have an interesting way of responding to things"

"I simply state facts"

"I see" Raito shook his head and stood up "I'll go get you something to sleep on"

Raito's smile still played on his lips as he walked to the hall closet to get the futon. He turned the corner to find his sister pulling said futon from the closet "Sayu? What are you doing?"

Sayu looked over and grinned at him "Dad said that we had a guest for the night and told me to bring the spare bed up for him! But it seems you have come to get it yourself, so I'll let _you _carry it" she closed the closet door and dumped the bed into Raito's arms. Then she leaned in and spoke in a quieter voice, as if they were being listened to "So, is he cute?"

Raito blinked "…what?"

"You're friend! Is he cute or is he…" Sayu paused, looking for a word "…_average_?"

Raito felt himself smile again "I wouldn't call him average"

His sister's eyes sparkled annoyingly "Yay! I knew one of big brother's friends couldn't be normal. Not that you have many friends…" Sayu trailed off, but didn't stay quiet for long "So he's in your room, right? I wanna see!"

Raito sighed "_No_, Sayu; he's not an exhibit. We're about to go to sleep, and you should too. It's getting late"

Sayu pouted, then a defiant gleam emerged in her eyes "Fine! I'll just take _this_," the girl snatched the futon out of Raito's arms with surprising speed.

"Sayu, what are you doing?" Raito frowned at his sister's childish behavior.

"Stealing our only spare bed" the teenager stalked away towards her room, futon in tow "It's much too cold without the heater to sleep on the floor or even the sofa; I suppose big brother and his friend will be sleeping together..." Sayu looked over her shoulder and smirked "You really should have taken mom up on that offer for a larger bed"

Raito stared at the girl in shock. When had his sister gotten so devious? "Ah, Sayu! Come back here!"

Sayu turned around slowly "What is it big brother? Sharing a bed with your friend shouldn't bother you; I share with my friends. You're both guys, and really, a mature person wouldn't get worked up over it. I thought big brother was mature…but maybe I was wrong"

Raito noticed that his cheeks had flushed slightly at the thought of sleeping with Ryuuzaki. God, why was he thinking of it that way? Sayu was right (for once); this really shouldn't be bothering him. But it did. "Sayu…you want to meet him so badly you're willing to act like a child to get your way?" His sister gave him a look, and Raito sighed "If I let you, will you give back the futon?"

Sayu's face was all sparkles once again "Of course!" she skipped back to her brother and handed over the bed, and Raito reluctantly led her to his room.

"Only for a few minutes, okay? He's not here to be subject to your whims"

"Yeah yeah" Sayu waved her hand, obviously not taking her brother seriously, making him sigh again "Big brother should stop doing that; he'll sigh all his happiness away!"

Raito rolled his eyes as he reached his room, and entered to find that Ryuuzaki had once again wandered outdoors. The brunette groaned and dropped the futon next to the bed before stalking to the balcony "The whole point of the shower was to get you _clean_! Do you have an aversion to the concept or something?" Raito pulled Ryuuzaki inside by the arm and shut the door, closing the curtains to discourage anymore outside temptation.

"Oh! Is that a kitty?" Sayu's squeal of joy brought Raito's attention to a black and furry mass in Ryuuzaki's arms.

Raito stared at the black creature for a moment, it's fur matted by the rain, and then turned to his sister "Go get some towels, Sayu" the girl nodded and skipped out the room, happy to be able to help.

Ryuuzaki raised an eyebrow at the brunette "That was...?"

"Sister. I'm not giving you any more clothes; I _hope_ you catch cold"

"Now Raito-kun, you must know that it is not possible to catch a cold from rain water. That is simply an old wives tale. Hypothermia on the other hand…"

Raito rolled his eyes "Fine. I hope you get _hypothermia_. Happy now?"

"Not really. I find it slightly worrying that Raito-kun would wish a life-threatening condition on me" Ryuuzaki looked down at the cat in his arms thoughtfully "What do you think, kitty? This weather is quite unusual; do you think Raito-kun could be plotting my emanate death with the clouds?"

Raito frowned slightly "You have a sick sense of humor"

"Yes, I have been told this before" the pale boy sent Raito a mischievous smile "Though I really don't see why people think so"

"Big brooooooother!" Sayu sang as she re-entered the room "I have towels!" she tossed one at her brother and the other at Ryuuzaki, and then she paused to look at the pale boy "Whoa. You aren't normal looking, just like big brother said!"

"Sayu!" Raito glanced at Ryuuzaki "Average! I said he wasn't _average_!" Sayu smiled evilly and Ryuuzaki looked skeptical.

"Emanate death…" Ryuuzaki muttered.

Raito groaned and snatched the cat out of the other teenager's arms, setting it on the towel as he sat on the bed "I swear, you're all against me" the brunette looked down at the cat--kitten, really--it's deep black fur clashing with the vanilla cloth. The feline whined as he dried it off, and it was soon joined by Sayu.

"Big brother! Be gentle! Neko-chan is fragile; you have to treat her properly!" the girl kneeled by the bed and petted the kitten's head. The creature started to purr.

"Neko-chan?"

"That's her name!"

"Sayu, you have no imagination"

"Reminds me of a certain blonde, actually…" Ryuuzaki mumbled as he climbed onto the bed and his personal style of sitting. Sayu didn't hear (she was too busy fussing over the cat, who was steadily growing wary of the excitable human) but Raito raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, you're going to get my bed wet! Sayu didn't give you a towel on a whim; there's a purpose for it" Raito turned so he was facing the other and grabbed the cloth that had been discarded on the bed. He held Ryuuzaki's head still with one hand, and used the other to dry his hair, face and neck with the towel "God, you're so cold. You really have no sense of self-preservation" Ryuuzaki's confused look quickly changed to a grin.

Neither noticed Sayu watching them out of the corner of her eye, a smile of her own playing on her lips. Then she noticed things were annoyingly peaceful and quiet, so she found it necessary to interrupt.

"There! Neko-chan's all nice and dry!" she lifted the cat into the air, and it started whacking its hind-legs at Sayu's arms, trying to escape (but not using its claws). It finally managed to wiggle free, jumping between Raito and Ryuuzaki with a loud meow. The two jumped, and Raito quickly pulled his hands away from Ryuuzaki. The kitten (now officially dubbed "Neko-chan") pounced at one of the retreating hands. The thing's tail flickered from side to side and it pounced again. A small smile tugged at Raito's lips. He lifted his hand and swayed it from side to side, and he chuckled as the kitten's wide eyes followed it.

The feline crouched down as if it was hunting, and then jumped at the hand, sinking it's fangs into it. Pain raced up Raito's arm.

Raito cried out and tried to pull his hand away, but the kitten held fast "Ahhhh, let go!" Raito heard someone stifle a laugh and his head shot up, glaring at Sayu and Ryuuzaki, who kept completely straight faces. The brunette sighed and used his free hand to press on either side of the kitten's jaw, forcing its mouth open. Raito's hand snapped away from the cat "Bad girl! No bite!" he scolded the kitten (and he swore it smirked at him) then muttered "Shit, that hurts….."

Ryuuzaki ignored Raito's injury and picked up the kitten "I wonder if you really are a girl…" Neko-chan purred and licked the pale boy's face.

"You don't know if it's a boy or a girl?" Raito asked, rubbing his hand "You were the one that found it!"

Ryuuzaki shrugged "I respect its privacy"

They were interrupted once again by Sayu's whining "You're getting her wet again! Go change!" she apparently didn't care if it was the cat's true gender, Neko-chan would always be a 'she' to her.

Raito snorted "He's not using my clothes"

Ryuuzaki petted Neko-chan absentmindedly "My own clothes aren't dry either…"

Both boys got a bad feeling when Sayu grinned "I'll take care of that. Come on, uh…sorry, what's your name again?"

"Ryuuzaki" he replied weakly

"Ok then, Ryuu-san! You're coming to _my_ room!" Sayu grabbed the pale boy's hand and dragged him out of the room. Not wanting to be left behind with the cat, Raito reluctantly followed.

- - - - - - -

The brunette paced back and forth outside his sister's room. He had been doing so for what seemed like eternity, and he was very very _bored_. Sayu had forbidden him from entering her room (for one reason or another), so Ryuuzaki had been sucked into the vortex all by his lonesome. There had been some arguing on the other side of the door in the beginning, but now it was eerily quiet. Raito could only imagine the horrors his…friend…was being subject to.

Raito paused in his pacing. _Does he really count as my friend? I've known him for what, 24 hours?_ He shook his head. He really couldn't be bothered to think about it right now; it wouldn't be worth the headache.

"Hi, Raito!"

A voice came from the door and Raito's head snapped to the side, discovering Ryuk's head poking out of the wood "God, Ryuk!" he hissed, and moved a little away from the door "Scared me half to death. Where did you go this time? And what did you do with the fruit bowl?"

The Shinigami shrugged "Remember: I'm not obliged to tell you what I do" Ryuk made a gesture to Sayu's room "So who's your sister playing dress-up with?"

"A friend" the brunette wandered back to the door, and Neko-chan head-butted his leg gently (the beast had been left out to keep Raito company) "What do you want?" the kitten looked up at him with wide black eyes, and Raito sighed. He picked the ebony feline up and set it in the crook of his arm "Freaky little cat. I haven't forgiven you yet; that bite still hurts" Neko-chan ignored him and curled up in his arms.

Ryuk floated up behind him "You have a cat?"

"No, I don't. It's a stray or something Ryuuzaki brought in with him"

"Ryuuzaki….?"

"My friend" for some reason, Ryuk's grin grew wider and he chuckled a little "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all…."

Raito gave the Death God a confused look, and then there was a muffled shout from the other side of Sayu's door.

"No! I draw the line at _that_!" that was Ryuuzaki

"Please!" then Sayu "I'll have done all this work for nothing!"

"I refuse to let there be record of this _anywhere_ on the planet"

Neko-chan moved in Raito's grip and began to cry at the door "Stupid cat" Raito muttered. Neko-chan definitely gave him a look that time "Sayu, let me in" the brunette wiggled the doorknob, but it remained locked "Sayu!"

"Fine" she whined "I'm coming, I'm coming" there was a click and the door flew open, revealing Sayu with an irritated pout "Ryuu-san's being mean! He won't let me take pictures…" the girl snatched away Neko-chan like the cat was comfort food, and retreated into her room.

Raito hesitantly followed her, unsure of what he would find. He scanned the room and eventually came across a vaguely human-looking creature huddled into a ball on Sayu's bed; Ryuuzaki. He had his face buried in his knees and his arms covered his head. He was suspiciously still.

"Come on, Ryuu-san! Show big brother how pretty you are!" Raito's sister plopped Neko-chan on the bed and forcefully pulled Ryuuzaki onto his feet "Don't be shy!"

Raito's eyes widened as the other teenager's face and body became visible, and to his confusion he heard Ryuk cackle behind him. The confusion was quickly forgotten; Ryuuzaki wore baggy off-white pants with a black belt, and a skin-tight, long sleeved black shirt. His fingers were decorated with rings, and silver bands appeared at random intervals on his upper arms. His hair was now dry and looked silky black, matching the eyeliner that outlined and made a small line going out from the corner of each eye. In the candle light, the teenager would put a vampire to shame.

He looked absolutely miserable; Raito snickered.

Ryuuzaki sent him a murderous glare "Raito-kun"

"Yes?"

"Say a word, and I will lock you in a closet with Sayu-chan and a chest full of make-up"

Raito laughed and raised his hands in mock submission "Ooooo, scary" he turned to Sayu "Where'd you get all this stuff?" Ryuuzaki returned to the bed and proceeded to sulk.

Sayu smiled "I have my sources…though the belt's yours" she sighed dramatically "What I would give to have one picture…"

"Am I supposed to sleep in this?" Ryuuzaki was looking at one of his hands, analyzing the slightly sinister designs on the rings.

"I don't see that you have a choice, Ryuuzaki. But really Sayu; you were _supposed _to be giving him night-clothes"

The girl waved the two off, turning her attention to the black kitten "It was too good an opportunity to pass up; Ryuu-san has so much gothic potential" the girl sighed "If only I could have gotten him still enough to put nail polish on him"

"Sayu…"

"Come near me with that make-up again and I will _burn it_"

"Ryuuzaki…" Raito smiled. His sister and new friend didn't seem very compatible. Well, more like Ryuuzaki wasn't compatible with Sayu; Sayu could get along with anyone if she tried. Ryuuzaki looked like he was mildly frightened by the girl.

"What are you still doing up?" The three teenagers turned to the doorway, and found Soichiro. The elder man had a barely contained grin on his face as he looked Ryuuzaki over "You kids should be in bed; it's late. Sayu, where did you get that cat?"

Sayu cuddled Neko-chan to her chest "Please, can we keep her?"

"No. Raito, take Ryuuzaki to your room; while you two are practically in college and can arrange your own sleeping patterns, Sayu is still in Middle School. She needs her sleep. If I catch you awake this late again there will be repercussions" Soichiro turned, and gestured out of the room. Raito and Ryuuzaki obeyed and headed off to Raito's bedroom.

On their way down the hall, Raito heard a faint tinkling sound from Ryuuzaki. He glanced over at the pale boy and noticed a bit of silver peaking out of his hair "No way…" the brunette held Ryuuzaki's shoulder to stop him and brushed away his hair to reveal a series of silver rings and studs that climbed up Ryuuzaki's ear "She seriously got earrings on you?" Ryuuzaki resumed walking, but not so fast that the brunette couldn't catch the faint blush on his friend's cheeks.

Raito's laughter haunted Ryuuzaki all the way to the bedroom.

- - - - - - -

So, did you like this chapter? It came out much…happier…than the other ones so far. Kinda fluffly. Was that a good thing? Review and tell me what you think!

You know what I found out that I never knew and think is kind of weird? Matt is a chain smoker, and you see him driving, but he's like 14 years old. Is there a different driving age thing in Japan? And Mello is 14 too (well, he's almost 15 but oh well) and he has a _gun_. And Near is 13, which I actually think is older than he looks…

Either Wikipedia got the birthdays and ages way wrong, or Mello had a major growth spurt early on in life. In my head I always saw them as around L or Raito's age. In this story, they'll be however old they are in your mind. I'm not going to give them a specific age, but I intended them to be at least 16 when I started writing.

And another random fact from Wikipedia, but I doubt it's true: Mello and Near almost ended up as L's kids. If this _had_ happened, L's age would've had to be bumped up to around 36. Scary…

On a completely different topic: if there are any Final Fantasy fans reading this, I'm writing a fic for it with **Aqua and Marine**. It's posted on their profile, so if you want to read it go there!

And finally, does anyone know what those door/window things are called?


	5. Chapter 4: The First Sighting

Hi people! I feel like I don't get this story's chapters out fast enough and that their not long enough, but then I also feel guilty for not working on my other story (which I _really_ should be doing right now instead of this one ^^'). Thank you to the 3 people who reviewed that last chapter: **Black-Dranzer-1119**, **4udball**, and **Racharae**. You make me feel so loved!

And ha! I will actually include the disclaimer this time. While I seriously doubt that anyone believes that it is my property, **I do not own Death Note.** Behold the sad truth…..

And in case anyone didn't know:

_Italics_ = thoughts

- - - - - - -

The pleasant warmth of sleep surrounded Raito, his mind blissfully free of everything but the darkness. No worry of being observed by L, no anxiousness to get more criminals killed and purify the world; nothing but peace. At least, until a certain Shinigami got bored "Raito, wake up. Wake up wake up wake up wake up"

Raito rolled away from the chant, folding his pillow over his head to try and block it out "No. Sleep. Go away"

"Don't you _want_ to write in the Death Note?"

"Yes, but despite how much I desperately want to write, I want to sleep more"

"But I'm _bored_. You never sleep in this late"

"There's a first for everything, and it can't be that late. Now _go away_"

The Death God sighed and floated away, searching for something to entertain him. He didn't really feel like playing any games by himself (Mario Kart was absolutely no fun without two people), so what else could he do? And the house was empty of apples, much to Ryuk's dismay. Maybe Sayu had a few hidden away in her room; yeah, that was possible. The girl always had something to eat near her. But was Ryuk brave enough to enter the frightening domain of a 14 year old girl alone? Perhaps. Yes, he supposed he would chance it. It wasn't like she could harm the Shinigami. Not physically anyway…….right?

Ryuk set a course for the girl's room, when his eyes spotted a bright yellow trail of sticky-notes on Raito's door. _Now what could that be?_ The creature plucked the neon papers off the wall and read the short message.

Dear Raito-kun,

I'm afraid that I have to leave early. I couldn't bring myself to wake you up, thus the sticky-notes.

We didn't really get to doing anything last night, so I was hoping you'd see me again at that café we went to the other day. You don't have anything planned this morning, right?

I'll see you at 10:00

_Ryuuzaki_

PS: You're father made me take Neko-chan home with me

PPS: You're sister is truly terrifying. Don't you DARE let her follow you

Ryuk looked at the wall-clock hanging above Raito's computer. 9:46.

He grinned "Oh Raaaaaitooo…"

- - - - - - -

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit…" each word was emphasized by a light step on a stair as Raito flew down them. _I'm going to be late! For the first time in my life _I _am going to be late! Since when do I sleep in past seven anyway?_

After Ryuk had stuck Ryuuzaki's Post-Its to Raito's face, the brunette had rushed to get dressed and out of the house, all the while berating himself for talking to Ryuk when Ryuuzaki could have been there. He had just reached the front door when a voice stopped him.

"Raito? Where are you going?" the teenager turned to find his mother, Sachiko.

"To see a friend"

"You seem rather eager" Sachiko stepped up to Raito and fiddled with his shirt "You're clothes are crooked; what's the rush?"

"I'm just running late"

"You? Late?" Soichiro wandered into the hallway, joining his wife and son "I didn't think I'd live to see the day"

Raito felt like glaring but restrained himself, instead opting for a sarcastic smile "Very funny, Father"

"You sure you don't want to have breakfast first?" Sachiko smiled up at the brunette.

"I just said I was running late"

"Sachiko, why don't you go wake up Sayu"

Sachiko nodded to her husband and disappeared around a corner to fetch her daughter. Soichiro returned his gaze to his son "Raito"

"Yes?" the teenager shifted from foot to foot, eager to bolt out the door before his sister could latch onto and follow him. He didn't want to be here when she found out her precious Neko-chan was gone.

"……you wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

The question caught Raito off guard, and he froze "Of course not, Father; I would never lie to you. What makes you ask?" It all rolled off his tongue so easily.

Soichiro smiled softly, maybe sadly "I was just…wondering"

"Well...okay, then. I'll see you later Father" Raito slipped out the door and headed for the station.

- - - - - - -

L sat in a corner of _Arik's Crown_, the little café that the insomniac had gone to with Raito on the 'first' day they met. Personally, L really liked the place; it was cozy and not very crowded (despite being in a busy part of Shibuya), which he liked since he wasn't fond of crowds. But with the lack of people last time and now, L wondered how they were able to stay open.

The place had soft, cushioned booths and a few tables scattered around the center of the café. It all looked rather expensive if you thought about it, but it merely felt like home. Actually, with the rich earthy jewel colors and paintings on the walls and such, it reminded him of the chocolaterie in the movie _Chocolat_. Well, except the floor was carpet instead of stone...and the walls weren't stone either...so really, it was nothing like the chocolaterie.

L was aware that the name of the place, Arik's Crown, was a simple twist on 'Kira's Crown' and that was a reason he had chosen here to come. He was sure that Raito had noticed as well, but the teen hadn't brought it up. L almost wished he had; the detective wanted to get Raito onto the investigation team soon (the whole thing was amazingly boring without the brunette), but he didn't really want to be the one who brought up Kira. It might make Raito wary of 'Ryuuzaki'. Plus, L was getting a little fed up with faking so many things. Raito was supposed to be the liar, not L.

"Nya! Mister!" L's attention was drawn to a little girl holding a tray with a wide assortment of pastries "I've got your cake!" she set the tray on the table and then hopped into the booth facing L, and started moving the many plates of cake and pie from the tray to the table. While she was doing this, L took a moment to analyze the girl. She was small and young--maybe eight years old--and had pitch black hair with a slight claret tinge to it. She wore a short-sleeved dark red dress that went down to her knees and had lines dancing across it in a non-existent pattern. Over the dress was an earth brown apron, and over her shoulder and across her chest was the strap to a tiny bag that hung at her hip. Around her neck was a strip of fabric that was the same color as her dress. She had no shoes, but there were socks.

The child finished and then looked up at L, grinning "You sure can eat a lot! You want something to drink, too? You do, right nya? I know! You want coffee with _lots _of sugar and _lots_ of milk, right nya? Yeah, that's how I like it too. That strong stuff is _gross_.I'll go get some for you! _Nya_!" she bounced off the seat and ran off in the direction of the bar lining one of the walls. L decided not to wonder about the hyper child, picking up a fork and starting to eat the cake closest to him.

Later, L was too busy reveling in the sweet taste of cherry pie to notice a brunette teenager and large floating creature approach him "Ryuuzaki"

The insomniac looked up at the newcomer and faked a smile "Raito-kun! Sit down" he gestured to the booth across him with his fork.

Raito smiled slightly back and complied "Sorry I'm late" he paused to look at the assortment covering the table "Think you got enough cake?"

"Don't worry; more will be coming soon" L stabbed another piece of pie "Feel free to have some"

"I'm fine" Raito gave the sugar filled collection a look "I think I'll just have coffee or something"

L shrugged "Your loss" he pushed away the empty pie plate and went for the next one.

Raito gave L the same look he had given the cake "So, why did you have to leave this morning?"

The pale man looked away a bit to the side "Oh, just stuff" Raito didn't need to know that he had been so completely _bored_ through the night with nothing to do (wasn't used to sleeping, so he couldn't) that he left at around three in the morning. The way he saw it was, why bother being there if Kira was dead unconscious? A waste of time, when no evidence would be revealed.

"How descriptive"

L let out a small laugh "I didn't know Raito-kun was…so…" something drew his attention to the entrance to the café. His eyes widened and he let out a small "Eep"

Raito frowned at the insomniac "Ryuuzaki?"

"...Misa-Misa..." was his only answer, so he turned to see what the other was looking at. At the door was a teenage blonde girl wearing gothic lolita clothes; Raito recognized her as Misa Amane.

At the same time the little girl that had served L popped out from a door behind the bar, carrying a white bowl. A bright smile appeared on her face and she skipped up to Misa. The two spoke for a second, and then the girl led Misa to L and Raito's table.

L felt panic rise in him with every step closer the blonde ditz took, but he was careful to not let it show on his face and cover up the former slip of emotion. _Why is _she_ here?! Famous people don't just walk into public places like this! Why isn't anyone else noticing her?_

The two girls eventually reached them and the little one stuck the big white bowl--which L could now see, to his approval, held a massive amount of sugar cubes—onto the table "Here's your sugar, mister! Nii-san doesn't trust me with anything liquidy, so he'll bring the coffee and milk instead!" she raised a hand and pointed at Misa "This is my sissy Misa Misa! She'll sit with you, okay?" it really wasn't a question.

Misa wore an overly-cheerful smile to match the child's and she looked the boys over. Then, to L's shock and horror, she slipped in next to him and sat _really_ close "Hiya! What're your names?"

L saw Raito's expression change to the one he used around girls and more or less most of the human race "I'm Yagami Raito, and this is, ah, Ryuuzaki"

"Hideki" L supplied, shying away from Misa "Hideki Ryuuzaki" the little girl watched them for a moment, and then sent L a tiny smirk before skipping away. _She knows_, the thought flit through his mind, _that girl knows that this woman terrifies me!_

"So what were you two doing before Misa-Misa came?" the blonde was happy as could be, seemingly in her own world.

"Nothing really; just talking" Raito answered "What brings you here?"

Misa laughed a little "Actually, Misa-Misa is hiding from her manager; he has way too much stuff for Misa-Misa to do!" she raised a finger to her lips "Don't tell where I've been if he finds you, okay?"

"Of course we won't" L noticed that Raito's smile was a bit more forced than it normally was. So this is how he would have reacted to Misa at this stage; L would bet that if he wasn't there, Raito would've gotten rid of her already.

"Yay! Raito's super nice!" Misa squealed, and then looked at L "And Ryuuzaki is too! Not to mention cute…." she leaned in closer to L and smiled, before latching onto his arm "Wanna go out?"

Raito's jaw dropped in a moment of honest shock and L looked at Misa with wide eyes. _What?_

- - - - - - -

Mello chewed impatiently at his chocolate bar as he sat in the airport, Matt on his left and Near on his right. Mello was annoyed at having to wait for the stupid plane (the flight had been delayed due to a freakish twist in the weather, and to top it all off their pilots had gone missing after landing). Matt seemed as irritated as him, but that was probably because this airport didn't allow smoking. Stupid rule. Near, as always, was just kind of there.

Mello finally crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and tossed it into a trash can "When can we leave? They should've found someone by now!" he whined.

"Airport people are idiots. I bet you they'll take hours to find one fricken pilot" Matt answered, glaring heatedly at a no smoking sign.

"They should just let us fly it"

"But none of us know how to fly this kind of plane. Honestly Mello, we may be geniuses but that doesn't mean we can fly something while knowing almost nothing abo--ow! What the Hell was that for?!" Matt rubbed his arm where Mello had punched him.

"For being a smartass" the blonde leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest "Should have just used a private plane" he muttered.

"Yes, that wouldn't have been suspicious at all to any mass murderers out there would it?"

"Shut up" Mello pulled out another chocolate bar and snapped off a piece.

"Mello, stop eating all that chocolate. You've had eight bars in the past fifteen minutes; you're drawing attention" Near gestured to the normal people passing by, giving the three boys and the trash can filled with chocolate wrappers looks. Mello glared at a few people who had actually paused to watch Mello devour his precious candy, encouraging them flee quickly.

"Tch" Mello bit off a chunk of chocolate "These people have no life" he glared at another person staring, but this one didn't run away. He looked curious, and then he came up to them.

"Hey, are you Mello?" the guy looked about Mello's age, and he had a British accent.

"What's it to you?" the blonde responded.

"Um…" the teenager suddenly seemed nervous and pulled at the left sleeve of his long-sleeved black shirt "L-L sent me"

Mello just kind stared at him mid-chocolate bite, momentarily surprised into speechlessness, so Near spoke for him "And we should believe you because...?"

"Well, I kind of…um..." he glanced at Mello's eyes, but quickly looked away, scared.

Mello got his voice back and snorted "Anyone ever tell you your lying skills suck?"

"I'm not lying! It's just..." he fidgeted, and then seemed to think of something "I could tell you your real names, as proof…"

Matt finally took notice of the conversation at that and looked at the stranger (he hadn't even bothered to do that yet) and ran his eyes over the teenager for a moment. He suddenly flipped up his goggles as if to see the teenager better, and this surprised Mello; even the blonde has almost never seen Matt without his tinted goggles. It had been years, and he had almost forgotten what a shocking green colour the red-head's eyes were. Said eyes narrowed before the goggles flipped back over them, obscuring their colour "He isn't lying, Mello" he turned his head slightly and smiled at Mello "We got another message from L about him"

Mello growled and yanked up the red-head by his collar so their noses were almost touching "And your excuse for not telling us _is_…?"

Matt's smile stayed in place, the teenager used to Mello's violent actions "It wasn't addressed to you"

"That's not a bloody good enough reason!" Mello snapped.

There was a _ding_ from the intercoms above and they announced a flight about to leave "Ah, they must have found our pilot. Time to go!" Matt pulled himself out of Mello's hold and stood up, stretching his stiff muscles. He threw an arm around the fidgeting new-found accomplice "Hello, stranger. What's your name?"

"I'm E-esper" he shifted at the close contact with Matt, but the red-head ignored that and squeezed his shoulder.

Mello glared on instinct, though where that instinct came from he didn't know. He snorted and stood up as well, keeping his eyes on Esper "Don't stutter; it's annoying"

"Uh, um…" the teenager swallowed and looked down before speaking quietly "Sorry"

"Don't apologize to Mello" Near slowly rose from his seat and drifted towards the terminal, almost ghostly in his appearance and movements "He doesn't deserve it"

"Prick!" Mello called after Near, and the little albino ignored him. The blonde huffed and turned to Esper "You. If you cause any trouble, get in my way, or annoy me at _all_ I will _personally_ shove you off the plane. Get it? Good" he stalked away and entered the tiny crowd of people headed for the plane terminal.

Matt kept his arm around Esper and kept him where he stood until Mello and Near were out of hearing distance, and then his smile faded and his arm dropped "So," he locked eyes with the other "Who are you really, and why are you here?"

- - - - - - -

That's it. What do you think? Review and tell me _please_! Also, I'd love to hear what you think will happen next.

A friend pointed out to me that Matt's eyes are actually supposed to be blue, but I like green better so they're going to be green. Ha.


	6. Chapter 5: The Three Musketeers Plus One

Hello! Hope you people out there are having a good life (unlike me, who has no life), and that you will enjoy this chapter. Have fun, and try not to fall asleep.

I don't own Death Note, I certainly don't own Raito or L, and I don't own anything related to Queen, My Chemical Romance, or any other music group except for one CD and a box full of vinyl disks. Oh, and just for the record, I do not encourage drinking under age or obsessively excessive smoking.

Thanks to **jjwitdaheydiddydiddy**, **FreeTheChickens**, **Black-Dranzer-1119**, and **Racharae** for reviewing! I love hearing your thoughts on my story!

- - - - - - -

"You. If you cause any trouble, get in my way, or annoy me at _all_ I will _personally_ shove you off the plane. Get it? Good" Mello stalked away and entered the tiny crowd of people headed for the plane terminal.

Matt kept his arm around Esper and kept him where he stood until Mello and Near were out of hearing distance, and then his smile faded and his arm dropped "So," he locked eyes with the other "Who are you really, and why are you here?"

The stranger teenager looked surprised "I-I already said, L sen-"

"That's bullshit and we both know it. You're lucky that my lie worked on Mello, though I doubt it passed by Near. Now I think you should tell me what it is you want"

The other teenager ran a hand through his pitch black hair and sighed "I gotta. . . I need to get to Japan. . ."

"Why?"

"I…I just do, okay?"

Matt sighed and he placed his arm back around Esper's shoulders "Oh well, at least I tried. Come along then"

"Huh? What?" Esper gave him a wary look "Why would you do that?"

"Because I know you have the Eyes"

Esper suddenly went very still and his nervous demeanor intensified. He moved his mouth but no words came out.

Matt laughed a little and started towards his two other friends, pulling Esper along "It's alright; your secret's safe. I'm kinda glad to have found someone like me. I didn't think I ever would"

"Y-you mean you…"

"Yeah," the red-head glanced at Esper "I was born with an Eye"

Esper looked surprised, but his nervousness seemed to lower "Just the one?"

"Yeah…only one"

"So, that's why I can't see your name? Or your death date?"

"That's right. I can't see yours either. Though, with these" Matt tapped his goggles "I can't see anyone's name or date"

The raven-haired one raised an eyebrow "Why would you want to stop seeing?"

"It started to get…stressful" by now they had gotten closer to Mello and Near, and Matt lowered his voice "I'll get you where you need to go, I'll even give you some money if you need it, but after that I expect to never see you again. Ever. This is merely a onetime favour; you won't be getting another. Understand?"

"Yeah" Esper paused and then gave the red-head a soft smile "Thanks"

- - - - - - -

Raito didn't know how it had happened, but he had ended up alone, drinking coffee, at a table by a window with a waiter at Arik's Crown. The waiter sat across from him, sipping his tea as if this happened all the time and was perfectly normal.

Raito leaned back in the booth. Conversation with the man had ended a while ago; he always responded, and always kept up the conversation, but it was the polite exchanging of words that one might have with an acquaintance on the bus. Raito had the strange feeling that the man felt obligated to stay there with him, but didn't really want to. Raito sighed inwardly (didn't want to appear rude, obviously). What was he doing here? Perhaps Raito was curious about what caused Ryuuzaki to leave.

When Misa had asked Ryuuzaki out, Ryuuzaki had seemed….horrified, and kind of zoned out for a few minutes. Then the pale teenager was snapped out of his daze when his cell rang, and he flipped out the phone, holding the thing to his ear with only a finger and his thumb. Raito's curiosity had truly been peaked when what looked like fear crept into Ryuuzaki's eyes.

The cell had snapped closed and onyx eyes locked with Raito's brown ones "I need to find something. I'll see you here at 9" was what he had said, then he coaxed Misa into letting him out of the booth and he seemed to barely restrain himself from running out of the café, Misa trailing behind.

And Raito had done it. For some _stupid_ reason Raito felt like he should listen to what Ryuuzaki said, and so he came back to the café after a day of killing criminals and generally trying to confuse the hell out of L. He still didn't know why he was sharing company with a waiter though.

The sky was almost completely dark outside and the only one out of the few tables there that actually had anyone left at it was Raito's own. It was 8:45 now; Raito didn't want to risk being late again. Being late was just something Raito wasn't used to, and never would be.

Raito's eyes were drawn to the waiter when he heard the small _click_ of a cup on the table. Raito noticed a slight look of interest in the man's eyes but it quickly faded "Guns 'N Roses or Queen?"

The brunette blinked, surprised by the English bands as well as the strange sudden spark of conversation "What?"

"Which one do you think we should play?" the man looked out the window and watched the night replace the day "I think we'll have a Queen-crowd tonight..."

"Uh, sure…" the waiter glanced at him and then stood up.

"You are waiting for someone, correct?" Raito nodded, and the man let out a barely noticeable sigh as if he was disappointed, and blew a strand of dusty black hair out of his face "Then you might as well help me rearrange the rooms" he started stacking chairs "Take the paintings off the walls and set them on the bar counter. Just be careful not to scratch them" Raito glared at being ordered around but nodded anyway, rising and doing as he was told. He had nothing better to do anyway.

Once all the paintings were down (he'd failed to notice how many had been crammed onto the walls, like a puzzle made of mismatched pieces, and it actually took a while to get them all), Raito looked over the café. The walls were bare and the waiter (he needed to figure out his name) was carrying off the last table up a staircase in the wall that Raito had somehow overlooked, leaving the room completely empty. He wandered to the bar and started looking at the paintings, for the recurring lack of anything better to do. Most of them were landscapes and not that interesting, but one of the smaller ones was different. It was like a portrait, but not: it was a full-body picture of a European child with midnight-black hair, and he was standing on a building rooftop looking out on a cloudy sky. Despite there being no sun, his shadow stretched out far behind him. But there was something off about the shadow…

"Kira!"

Raito stiffened slightly at the call, and turned slowly to the voice. The waiter was there, facing the stairway, but his head was turned slightly in the brunette's direction, and that interested look was back. Raito was suddenly uncomfortable, and he gave the waiter a cold look. The gaze lingered for a moment before the waiter called out again "Kira! Get it started and come down here!"

"Coming!" there was the thumping of feet above, and then the room was filled with the steady beat of music. The thumping started again and got closer and closer and with a little cry of joy a blur of black, red and brown leapt off the staircase and tackled the waiter "Nii-san Nii-san! I found someone who looks _just_ like…"

As the little girl trailed off Raito recognized her as the one who had lead Misa to himself and Ryuuzaki. She looked at Raito with big eyes and tightened her arms around her brother's--presumably--neck, adjusting herself in his arms "I thought he left! Did he stay here all day? Dedicated little uke, isn't he Nii-san?"

"Ah, Kira, you're almost too big for this…" 'Nii-san' pointedly ignored the uke comment, at which Raito bristled, as he set Kira on the floor. The girl pouted but resigned herself to attaching to the man's leg.

"I am _not_ uke to Ryuuzaki" Raito glared at Kira, who returned it with a simple, innocent look.

"I never said anything about Ryuu-Nii-san"

Raito's glare intensified, and the brother pulled Kira closer to himself. He spoke to Kira softly "Why don't you go look for his friend, Kira?"

"Will Nii-san be okay? Maybe Nii-san should come with me..."

The brother smiled down at Kira and Raito was almost surprised by how gentle and loving the expression was. Raito thought of Sayu, and he couldn't remember a time when he had acted that kind towards her. He found he didn't want to look at the two siblings, and he turned his eyes away.

"Alright. You can go ahead of me; I'll be with you in a minute" Kira nodded and darted out the front door, but not before shooting Raito a devious look that effectively killed the 'sweet little girl' look. Her brother dug in his pockets for a moment, and then produced a ring of keys. He tossed them at Raito "Go upstairs and unlock all the doors in the hallway, though if you know what's good for you you won't open any of them"

The man exited the bare café, leaving Raito all alone and pissed at once again being ordered what to do "What's with these people?" Raito muttered. _They're so….trusting. If they did this to just anyone they could wind up robbed blind._ The brunette looked down at the ring of keys. _Why am I doing this?_

He climbed up the stairs, stopping at the top to peer down the long hallway of doors that turned in a corner at the end. All in all, it looked kind of like a haunted house; there were only a few lights on the ceiling, giving the place a shadowy look, and the doors and floor were all plain wood. Nothing particularly pleasant about any of it "How far back does this place go?" Raito muttered to himself as he started down one side of the long hall, unlocking doors as he went. Despite being told not to look in any of the rooms, the brunette peeked inside each one. He was a bit disappointed when he found they were all empty with nothing inside. "Tch" he muttered "What a waste of time. Why bother locking empty rooms? They're all…" Raito paused at the corner at the end of the hallway. Right where the wall turned, three steps lead down to the last door. At about eye-level there were the letters 'A', 'K', and 'B' intertwined and engraved on the door "Huh…" Raito stepped down and wiggled the doorknob. It was locked. Surprise surprise. The brunette stuck the last key in the lock and turned it, and with a resounding _click _a flood of two sounds came through the door: soft music, and laughter.

"Oh, come on, it couldn't be him!" a woman's voice, heavily coated by a stereotypical Texas accent.

"Hey, I'm only telling you what I heard from Tiny" Raito's eyes widened. That sounded like…Ryuuzaki? Raito couldn't resist, and in a bout of spontaneous curiosity he cracked the door open to see inside.

"Ooooo, don't let 'er hear ya say that, love" a blonde with an unnaturally large chest (no, really, she had to have had surgery to have a chest that big) was leaning against a desk that was shoved up against the far wall. And it was, it _was_ Ryuuzaki in there, sitting on the edge of that same desk, but he wasn't sitting in his odd way. He was sitting the same way any normal person would have, dangling his legs over the edge.

"As long as you don't tell her, I'll be fine" Ryuuzaki absentmindedly reached out and ran his fingers through the woman's long golden hair "Pretty color. But while you are always beautiful, I do prefer the original you"

The woman turned and sat on Ryuuzaki's knee, a leg on each side of his, and gave him a wicked smile "Is this your way of gettin' me? Givin' me complements?"

The pale teenager smiled back and nuzzled her neck "I don't need to compliment you to get what I want"

The woman purred at the attention she was getting "Ohhhhh, when _was_ the last time we did this?"

"Hmm. I believe it was this morning"

"Oh yes. After that meetin' you went to. Ya still haven't told me how that went"

Ryuuzaki snorted "I have to tell you? It's always the same; no one has any idea, or they don't care, about what we're doing" he nipped the woman's neck and she squealed, and Ryuuzaki slipped his hands up the back of her tight shirt. Raito found he couldn't look away, even though he could feel a blush start to tinge his face "So love, you think we should go downstairs and set things up?"

The woman grinned and Raito swore he could see fangs peek out from behind her lips "Oh, if only. But Ali's out tonight, and we can't leave 'ira to work by 'erself. There's time to play, though" she leaned forward and Raito's breath hitched when she wrapped her arms around Ryuuzaki's neck, bringing her lips to his. And still Raito couldn't look away. The kiss looked playful and far from serious, but there was still a possessiveness in the way they held each other; each belonged to the other and the other only, and they both knew that.

The woman giggled, breaking the kiss, when Ryuuzaki brushed his hands over her sides. The dark-haired one quirked an eyebrow "So we're ticklish now? Nice touch" the black eyes suddenly wandered to the door and he immediately noticed Raito, and his face portrayed innocent surprise "Hey, Kiki, look: it's an evil ghost!"

The blonde twisted around and glanced at Raito before turning back to the other teenager "No no, he's a friendly ghost!"

"Looks evil to me…"

"Really?" the woman peered at Raito again "I guess there is somethin' a lil' sinister 'bout 'im"

"See? What'd I tell you"

Raito slammed the door closed, cutting off all visuals of the two. _What the hell?! That was…..weird._

"Raito-kun?"

The brunette let out a little cry of surprise and spun around, finding Ryuuzaki gazing at him with a slight look of alarmed worry "Is Raito-kun okay? I'm sorry if I startled you…"

Raito simply stared at the other, whose look of worry increased, and then he turned back to and opened the door, looking through it. The first Ryuuzaki was still there, arguing with the woman over what kind of ghost the brunette was. Raito slowly closed the door and turned back to the dark-haired teenager "You know what?" he stated, more to himself than to Ryuuzaki "I really don't want to know" he walked past the other and back down the hall, the ring of keys jingling in his hand.

The sound of feet behind him told him that Ryuuzaki, or at least who he thought was Ryuuzaki, was following him "Raito-kun? Raito-kun, what was in that room?"

"Nothing. _Nothing_ was in that room. Absolutely nothing" _It was all my imagination_._ The twisted result of a tired mind._

Ryuuzaki stepped up beside him and took hold of his forearm, pulling him to a stop "Then why is Raito-kun blushing?"

The brunette's face got one shade redder and he quickly attempted to change the subject "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Ryuuzaki blinked "Looking for…?"

"When you left you said you had to look for something. Did you?"

"No" the pale teenager's face fell a little and he let go of Raito's arm "No, I did not."

"That's too bad. Sorry" Raito was tempted to ask more, but Ryuuzaki's expression held him back and the brunette started walking again, trailed by Ryuuzaki, until they reached the bottom of the staircase. He paused on the last step but by now he really wasn't surprised: the café seemed to have doubled in size and it was filled with people laughing and dancing to, of course, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody "This place is so screwed up" the brunette muttered as he wandered to the bar and sat on one of the stools, looking around for that waiter so he could give back the keys and leave. The place was nice in the daytime, but it seemed to be much more of a night-club than a café now.

"Ryuu-Nii-san! Uke-Nii-san!" the familiar and increasingly irritating voice of Kira reached Raito and Ryuuzaki's ears, and the little ball of energy popped up from behind the bar, presumably standing on a very tall stool "Hiya! You wanna drink?"

Raito frowned at her "Isn't it illegal for someone your age to sell alcohol?"

Kira pouted "Hey! I might look little, but I'm really not!" she pulled over two shot glasses and silver bottle and slammed them in front of Ryuuzaki and Raito and then chirped "Complements of Mama" before hopping off her stool and storming off. Raito watched her, thinking too late of giving her the keys, before taking a glass tipping some of the clear alcohol into it, drinking it before pouring himself another. Drinking wasn't a habit Raito had, but he figured he'd seen enough freaky things today to justify him having a few.

He noticed Ryuuzaki frowning at him "Aren't _you_ too young to drink?"

In response the brunette poured him a shot and set it in front of Ryuuzaki "When you have a weird day, sometimes you just have to forget the rules" the pale teenager gave Raito a vaguely shocked look, but he did take the glass. Raito smiled as he watched Ryuuzaki quickly down the alcohol, and filled the glass again. "Hideki Ryuuzaki, huh…" he murmured.

He might as well give the teenager a good time before the end.

- - - - - - -

Mello nibbled on his last chocolate bar, trying to make it last, as he watched the world zoom by through the car window. To his left was a royally pissed Matt (the people on the plane had ended up confiscating his cigarettes because he kept lighting up even when they told him not to), and across from Matt was Near. Across from Mello was the weird teenager Esper.

Merely watching Esper annoyed Mello, but he couldn't help watching him. He really didn't seem like the type of person L would employ, never mind giving the names of his heirs to. The black haired teenager's mood seemed to change at random, first seeming calm and collected and then fidgeting and nervous. At times Mello would notice Esper's faded blue eyes unfocus, and the teenager appeared to stop seeing things. All of this irritated the blonde to no end. Not to mention that ever since he had shown up, Matt was constantly with Esper. Or at least when he wasn't playing his games he was...

"That's it!" Mello was pulled out of his angry/analytical thoughts by Matt's announcement "I need cigarettes. Stop the car"

"Matt, we can't stop" Near looked up from the Rubix Cube he was messing with "We are in the middle of the street"

"I don't care. I _need _to _smoke"_ before anyone could stop him the red-head had popped open the car door and was sliding out of the vehicle.

"Hey! Matt, that's dangerous!" Esper scrambled out of his seat to follow Matt.

Mello watched them go, and then turned to his half-eaten chocolate bar "……I need more chocolate"

Near sighed as the blonde slammed the door closed behind him. This was going to be a long day.

- - - - - - -

It took about two minutes for Matt to locate the nearest corner store, and the four teenagers filed into the little shop. Each wandered straight to their addiction: Mello to a candy rack, Near to a small stack of puzzles and other toys, and Matt right to the counter to buy cigs. Esper drifted over to a freezer full of ice-cream. Behind the counter was a man, in his early-twenties at youngest, sitting on a stool reading a book. When Matt approached he looked up, taking off his glasses "Can I help you?"

"Cigarettes" the man ran his eyes over Matt before reaching under the counter and placing five packs on the counter "Thank God…" Matt muttered while taking a pack and ripping it open, pulling out a cig and quickly lighting it. The man didn't seem to mind Matt smoking before he paid, simply watching as the goggle-clad teenager let out a smoky sigh of relief. Matt turned and leaned on the counter, calling out to Mello "Hey, have you cleared out the chocolate yet?"

The blonde stepped out from around the rack, holding a shopping basket full of chocolate bars between his hip and his forearm "Yeah. Hey, cashier dude, you got any more in storage?"

The man put his glasses back on and looked back down at his book, leaning his head on his hand, his fingers disappearing into his dusty-black hair "Yeah, but you can't have it"

Mello glared "We will be paying"

"I have to leave some for other people you know"

"What other people" Mello gestured to the empty shop "There aren't any other customers but us"

The cashier lifted curious eyes to the blonde "Are you not aware that people shop at all hours of the day? Not just ten at night?"

Mello's glare turned deadly, but the man deflected it with a small smile. After a moment Mello brought the basket to the counter "Whatever"

"That's what I thought" the man started to count the bars Mello had gathered. By the time he had finished, Near and Esper came up and set their own stuff on the counter. The albino had a few puzzles and Esper had five pints of various ice cream. He put their stuff plus Matt's cigarettes through the register "Anything else you want?"

Mello, Matt and Near shook their heads, but Esper spoke up "Um, do you have any sake?"

The man raised an eyebrow and stood up "Sure. You have an ID?"

"Yeah" the blue-eyed teenager pulled out his wallet but the man waved him off.

"Never mind. It's probably fake anyway…" the man walked over to a cabinet to the left and crouched down in front of it, rummaging around a bit before pulling out an old-fashioned sake bottle. He came back and set it in front of Esper "What do you want this for anyway? Sake and ice cream is a rather unusual mix"

"I'm…" Esper paused before continuing "I'm taking it to Sho-ro Kumo"

"Hn" something flickered in the man's eyes, and he smiled softly at Esper "You can take your stuff for free then" he looked over at the others "You all still have to pay though"

Mello glared "Bastard"

The cashier grinned and shrugged "Gotta make a living somehow" he bagged the stuff and the quartet left the shop, Mello mumbling about smartass cashiers. Mello tossed his chocolate in the car's (which had eventually pulled up by the store) trunk after stuffing some in random parts of his clothing, Matt held on to his cigarettes as if for dear life (the irony), and Near gently placed his puzzles on the floor of the car. Esper held onto his ice cream and sake "This is as far as I'm going with you"

Matt leaned against the side of the car, an unconcerned frown on his face "What are you talking about?"

The blue-eyed teenager dug around in his pockets "Uh, well, I'm gonna be going to Sho-ro Kumo now but this," he pulled out a slip of paper and held it out to Matt ". . . is where L wants you to go. It's not too far from here; it's right down that corner..."

Mello snatched away the paper, flipping it open to read "Why are you going? You work for L too"

"You're who L wants to see. I'm only supposed to tell you how to get there. So yeah…I'll be going now" Esper turned and started to walk off, but Near took hold of his forearm.

"Mello and Matt will be going with you" Near delicately took the paper from Mello "Matt seems to have taken an interest in you, and we can't leave him alone with a stranger, no matter what claims you have of connections to L" Near seemed to make sure to make eye contact with Esper on that last part. "Besides, no one should have to go to a grave by themselves" then the albino climbed into the car and closed the door, the conversation officially marked closed when the car drove away.

"Hey!" Mello nearly screamed after the vehicle "Come back here you prick! Bloody hell!" the blonde huffed and then sent Esper a scalding look "You better make this interesting or else. I don't deal well with boredom"

"Now now Mello. Don't kill him here; even L wouldn't be able to get you out of a public shooting, especially in _Japan_" Matt linked his arm with one of Esper's, pulling him along as he started to walk. As long as Near thought it was a good idea, the cherry-head didn't seem to really have any qualms with tagging along "Well, come on. We don't have all day" Mello frowned at the joined arms but didn't say anything, following behind the red-head and fidgeting teenager.

The three made their way to the Sho-ro Kumo Cemetery.

. . . . . . .

I completely inflicted this upon myself, but while I was writing this in my head all of the characters had Scottish accents because I was watching Monarch of the Glen. Ryuk with a Scottish accent… *snicker*

Man, I feel like _nothing_ _happened_ in this chapter. There was almost no L/Raito interaction…..which is kinda supposed to be the point of the story. So I tried to make up for it with an itty bitty bit of Mello stuff. Hey, at least I tried to make this story fit the 'romance' category…

This chapter (and really the last chapter too) was one of those 'setting everything up' chapters, so if there are those who made it this far and are getting bored, I promise that in the next chapter things will start to happen! And L will make more of an appearance! I missed writing L this chapter… TT-TT

If anyone doesn't know and was confused by this, 'sake' is Japanese alcohol.

Question of the chapter: who thinks Near would be ticklish? I had a really weird dream involving Near and tickling and well…yeah.

Mission for reviewers: tell me your favorite candy

Please review!


	7. Chapter 6: When Crossing Into Insanity

Hi! I really wanted to get this out sooner but my evil evil friend insisted on baking a cake, which was a bad idea to begin with (see, this is the equation: Me+cake+kitchen=bad), and we could only find one oven mitt, so while reaching into the oven to get the cake I hit my hand on the metal rack and I got this burn across the back of my hand…..and it's all white in the middle…and it hurts when I move it TT TT. Since I am not adept at typing with one hand, it took me forever to type this. Sorry~~~

I am quickly coming to the conclusion that the only reason they make us put disclaimers on here is so we'll feel depressed about not owning anything. I don't own Death Note or its characters.

Thanks to **Black-Dranzer-1119**, **Racharae**, **jjwitdaheydiddydiddy**, and **FreeTheChickens** for reviewing (PS: all your names are officially words on my copy of Word)

Music-Mood: Do Wah Diddy Diddy

Here be the next chapter!

- - - - - - -

It was quiet in the dark, abandoned cemetery. Rows of solemn gray tombstones lined the sidewalks, the concrete cracked and laced with weeds. Scattered around the place were lanterns that held old stubs of candles. Esper made it a point to light each one.

Matt and Mello trailed behind Esper as he led them through the winding paths, lighting their way across the degraded graveyard. To Mello, it seemed like the weird teenager was more comfortable here than anywhere else the blonde had seem him. Finally they reached the grave Esper was looking for, the world around them lit with a ghostly glow. The shadows stretched and flickered (which in itself was strange, as there was not even a breeze; the air was irritatingly stagnant) as the raven-haired one set down the sake and ice cream, and proceeded to rip off the vines that had wrapped themselves around the stone. Matt moved to help, but Esper stopped him "I should do this" So Matt pulled Mello along back to a respectful distance and stood there as Esper finished pulling away the foliage, revealing the graffiti-stained tombstone.

Except there were no words engraved on it: not a name, not a date, nothing. It didn't look like anything had been worn away, but that there simply had never been anything there in the first place. Still, Esper smiled down at it "It's been too long since I've come here…"

He picked up the sake bottle and uncorked it, then tipping it over the top of the stone so the alcohol flooded down over its edges.

Esper sat down in front of the grave and crossed his legs, holding an eerie resemblance to a living corpse. He pulled over his bag of ice cream and pulled out two pints of the stuff--strawberry and vanilla--and placed them on the grave. After that he just watched the grave, and Mello noticed that again to his irritation, the dark-haired one's eyes had gone unfocused.

He found it more than necessary to break the silence "Whose grave is this?"

Matt shot him a look, but before he could say anything Esper responded "It's my sister's" he brushed his fingers over the bottom edge of the stone, and his small smile faded a little "She died three years ago"

Mello was silent with Matt for a moment, before more slipped out from the blonde "It must have been nice to have someone like that to love"

Surprised goggle-clad eyes stared at the blonde, and blue eyes turned to look at him "Why would you say that?"

"I just…think it would be" flustered at letting that come out, he looked away "Not that I really care or anything"

Esper smiled slightly "Of course. But really, I couldn't stand her. I hated her; just being in the same room as her was nearly too much sometimes. I really hated her for the longest time…" he faltered a little, but kept going. He looked distracted by something "Not that my hatred was justified, and there was no doubt that she liked me. Everyone loved her; she was kind and smart and laughed…she was just one of those people"

"What happened to her?" Matt elbowed Mello hard in the side and glared at him

"That's enough, Mello! You're being rude!"

"It's alright" Esper chuckled a little before going quiet for a moment "She fell out a window of her high school. From five stories up…" a low bell resounded through the cemetery, and Esper tensed.

Mello noticed and smirked "Scared?"

The dark haired one frowned "No, it's just…" something flickered in his eyes and his head snapped up "Fuck!"

A loud bang shattered the quiet, and a corner of the tombstone flew off. Esper jumped up and tried to run, but Mello grabbed his arm, stopping him "What the hell was that?!"

Esper tried to pull free of Mello but the blonde held tight. After half a moment he gave up "What do you think it was?! It was a fucking gu--" another shot erupted and a thin line of red trickled down the side of Esper's face. Vibrant, icy blue eyes narrowed and he growled as he reached up to the burnt cut on his cheek "You need to run _now_" Mello glanced at Matt, and then he nodded reluctantly.

With another gunshot, the three started towards the entry gate to the cemetery. It looked farther to Mello than it had been before, and he itched to pull out his own gun and shoot back, except for the two problems: he couldn't figure out where the attackers were coming from, and he wouldn't be able to guarantee both Matt and Esper's safety (and, ya know, his own of course). He would have been more than willing to leave Esper for dead, but the cherry-head really did seem fond of him. Mello knew he would never be forgiven if he let the irritating teenager die.

After what seemed like far too much time being chased like the prey Mello wasn't used to being, the three reached the gate; alas, it was locked by a chain and padlock.

"Damnit!" Mello cried out his frustration and kicked the gate, the old metal rattling "Who's fucking brilliant idea was it to put a huge fence around cemeteries!?"

"Calm down, Mello" Matt looked out into the darkness spotted with candles, his eyes searching for their pursuers. Matt had always been calm at the oddest of times.

"Mello, give me your gun" the blonde looked at Esper, who had his hand held out. How had he known Mello had a gun? "Hurry up, blondie. They'll catch up with us soon" Mello growled, but at a nudge from Matt he reluctantly handed over the pistol.

Esper turned to the gate and pulled back the chain as far as it would go. It took two bullets for the iron links to break. The blue-eyed one pushed open the gate but before the others could move to get out, he pulled them aside "Come over here"

"Why? The gate's open; we can leave!" Mello stayed put by the fence opening.

Esper shrugged "Fine. Get caught. Don't blame me when you get shot full of holes..."

Mello snorted "I'll shoot them first"

"Dude, there's like six of the guys, not to mention however many are out on the streets. You might bring _one_ down with you, but more than likely you'll just give him a bullet to the arm. There's a way higher chance of living if you go in there" he gestured to a little, crumbling stone building a few yards away.

"You're kidding"

"Completely serious. With the gate hanging open they'll think we've gotten out, but they won't think to look through the rest of this place. Trust me, I've done this before; they're all idiots. And even if you don't trust me..." he turned half-way to the building before grinning at the blonde, spinning the black pistol on his finger "_I_ have the gun" he started off, apparently confident enough to think that the blonde and cherry-head would follow him. Mello glared at the back of Esper's head, not wanting to go with him but really wanting his gun back. It was weird not to have it on him. He huffed and pushed Matt along, ignoring his friend's annoyed muttering, to go after the more or less stranger.

After a moment Matt stopped muttering and leaned over to whisper to Mello "Hey, doesn't Esper seem a bit…different?"

The blonde blinked and paused to really look at Esper, and then frowned.

When did Esper get blonde tips?

- - - - - - -

Raito sighed in contentment, a light buzz at the edges of his mind. Not enough to disable his thinking, of course, but just enough to make him completely relax. Hideki Ryuuzaki was now sitting across from the brunette, as the two had moved once seeing the pale teenager sit in his special way on a stool with perfect balance had gotten a little too weird for today. Completely by chance, the two were back in a corner booth for lack of other seats.

The two teenagers (well, mostly Ryuuzaki) had polished off the whole bottle of whatever kind of alcohol that had been, and now they were just talking and watching the throng of people dancing and such in the center of the former café. And of course, Queen was still playing. Loudly.

Raito was impressed that Ryuk still wasn't bored, but the Shinigami seemed to have a Queen-fetish, so all was good.

Their conversation had lulled down a bit to the occasional comment, the two merely enjoying each other's presence. Raito had to keep from smiling from the irony; 'enjoying each other's presence' when by tomorrow morning, the brunette will have killed the pale teenager. Raito had to admit that it probably wasn't a good thing, but he was getting much the same thrill from this as he'd gotten when he'd sealed Misora Naomi's fate without laying a finger on her.

Both of them had been a threat to Raito, Naomi because she had figured out part of Kira, and Ryuuzaki because he was clearly intelligent enough to be a horrible threat to Raito if the brunette couldn't define whose side he was on. It was safest to get rid of people like them, even if they could end up being assets. And so Raito had decided that Ryuuzaki had to die now, and this would be his last night.

The music faded for a moment when the song ended, and Ryuuzaki took that moment to strike up a conversation "Raito-kun is going to Touou in April, correct?"

"Yeah, if my scores go for me. Which I know they will"

"Raito-kun is very sure of himself. He seems to be very motivated" Ryuuzaki cocked his head "I suppose Raito-kun knows exactly what he is going to do with his life"

Raito let his gaze venture out to the dancing crowd, which he noticed had thinned out a bit "I do know. I'm going into the police force, like my father"

"Following in footsteps, then. Is Raito-kun sure that's what he wants?"

The brunette glanced at Ryuuzaki, surprised "Yeah…why?"

The pale teenager toyed with a sugar packet, and for a moment Raito feared he would rip it open and swallow it straight. But he wouldn't really do that…right? "I think Raito-kun would enjoy something that gave him more freedom. Something like detective work, if he wanted to stay with a law-related career"

"A…detective?" Raito watched Ryuuzaki carefully tear open the sugar packet and pour its contents onto a napkin, making a little snowy hill.

"Yes, a detective. Personally I find it more interesting, especially since you can't be forced into a boring case a police force might give you" he smiled at Raito "Does Raito-kun not agree?"

"Well, as long as you're helping the world, I don't think it matters if a case is boring. You can't put a murderer in jail by being just a detective; you'd have to have some police cooperation_" Unless you're like me, who can pop them off with merely a name and a face. _Ryuuzaki kept pouring packets of sugar onto the napkin, and Raito was getting a bad, bad feeling.

The pale teenager didn't even seem to give thought to what Raito said "Of course it matters. Do you think you could give a dull case your all? You couldn't, naturally" the pale teenager set the last packet on the table and took the edges of the napkin carefully, lifted it up and funneled it into his mouth. Raito tried and failed to keep from gagging. He could have sworn Ryuuzaki smirked at him, but the look was gone in a second so Raito just blamed it on the alcohol.

Ryuuzaki continued as if he had not just poured a disgusting and very unhealthy amount of various sweeteners down his throat"I'm not saying that as a detective you should avoid working with the police--as you said it would not work well if you wanted to go for any real criminals. One would have to make a name for oneself and convince the law to trust you, and then you could work as an extension of the law. Take L, for example…"

"L?" Raito had to try to keep from frowning.

"Yes. Governments must have quite a bit of trust in him, especially if they let him pull that Lind L. Taylor stunt. I doubt that they would have let someone in the police force, even someone of your father's rank, do something like that. Actually, I know they wouldn't"

Raito blinked "You…seem to know a lot about this"

Ryuuzaki smiled, his expression turning slightly sheepish "Things get around in a business like that; I suppose I take more care than others to listen to the grapevine" Ryuuzaki paused and nibbled on his thumb, as if thinking "Though perhaps…if L never told the police Lind. Taylor was going to be a fake…that would be a possibility. What does Raito-kun think?"

Raito frowned. _Where is this coming from? Everything he says is true _"I guess…that could happen. But if it did the police probably wouldn't like L much; they would feel like they were being controlled, like they didn't have any power, and would no longer be very willing to cooperate, if they ever had been"

Ryuuzaki nodded "This, as well as L's natural mistrust of the police force, eventually leads to the resignation of the majority of the Japanese Kira Investigation Team"

The brunette's eyes narrowed "How do you know that? That information wasn't released to the public"

"Now Raito-kun," Ryuuzaki looked Raito in the eye, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips "One doesn't have to be the son of a police officer to find out these things. There are leaks everywhere, if you know where to look. And anyway, it's not like their computers are _that_ protected. If they tried, anyone with good software knowledge could get in"

Raito raised an eyebrow "You…_hacked_ a police computer? You do know that's illegal, right? Hell, it's illegal to hack _any _computer without permission"

"But it isn't" the pale teenager cocked his head, still smiling "It's only illegal if you get caught"

"That's faulty thinking, Ryuuzaki" Raito shook his head "If I told anyone you could be arrested"

"But there's no proof; I left no traces. Even if you said I confessed to it there would be no way to tell what Raito-kun said was true, since of course I would deny it, not to mention that you have been drinking," Ryuuzaki gestured to the shot glasses "which could put _you_ under over-night arrest, not to mention be put on your record. So at this point you have two paths: tell about my hacking, not be believed and be caught under the influence, or not tell and not be caught. Your choice"

Raito chuckled slightly "You never leave yourself open to anything, do you?"

"You should always cover your tracks, Raito-kun"

"Hn. Why'd you try to get in anyway?"

"I did not 'try'; I _did_ get in. As to why…I want to know more about Kira. I want to know his advantages, his mindset, his flaws, his limitations. I want to know exactly why he does what he does, and how he chooses to execute those he deems should die. I want to know why he was stupid enough to kill Lind. L. Taylor when the only information to prove he was L was his word"

Raito internally growled at the stupid comment, but forced his voice to remain smooth as he spoke "Do you know how dangerous saying those kinds of things is? If Kira walked by right now and overheard you, you would be dead"

"Why do you say that? I am merely curious"

"If I were Kira, I wouldn't want anyone digging into who I was or what my limitations were. It would be too much of a risk"

"But I am not searching for him for the sole purpose of catching or killing him. I just want to know about him. Though, once I knew, I would probably wouldn't be able to keep it from the police…"

Raito sighed and leaned back into his chair, running a hand through his hair "Do you not value your life at all?"

Ryuuzaki smiled, something dark flickering in the back of his eyes "Frankly, I would find it amusing if I dropped dead this instant"

Raito's wide-eyes watched the dark-eyed teenager "You really do…have no sense of self-preservation"

The strange teenager gave a small smile "While I did say I would be amused, I did not say I wouldn't lament my death"

"HELLO!!!" Raito jumped at the loud, cheerful interruption. The brunette turned his eyes to the voice and as he feared, the little girl Kira was there, radiating cheerfulness "Mama told me to tell you that we'll be closing early today—in half an hour—and that we hope you had a nice time. Uh, there was something else…" she paused and stared at the table with great concentration "Nyaaaaaa….oh well! It couldn't have been that important" she backed up and bowed slightly "I expect to see Ryuu-niisan and Uke-niisan here again, kk? See you!"

Both teenagers watched the girl skip away into the diminishing crowd, spreading word of the emanate closing of the nightclub. Raito sighed and briefly wondered if the girl would hunt him down if he didn't ever come back.

The brunette returned his attention to Ryuuzaki, who had a strange expression on his face. A strange expression that looked suspiciously like suppressed laughter "So…" Raito started "I suppose we should leave soon"

"Yes. It is rather late…." Ryuuzaki looked at Raito questioningly "Won't your family be wondering where you are?"

Raito shrugged, sliding out of the booth and standing up "They can't expect me to be home by ten; I'm going into college. Ah, speaking of college, I don't think I got which one you'll be going to"

Ryuuzaki rose to stand by Raito, and he looked up at him from his crouched posture before heading off for the exit "If my scores go for me—which I know they will," he gave Raito a slight grin "I shall also be attending Touou"

"Cool" Raito glanced at the pale teenager "Maybe we'll be seeing each other on campus"

"Yes, that would be nice"

The two paused at the exit, and Raito turned to the other teenager "Should I be expecting you to pop up on my doorstep before April?"

Ryuuzaki chuckled slightly "No, I'm afraid not. I'll be out of the country until the school year starts"

"Really? Well, I guess I'll see you then" the brunette held out his hand, and Ryuuzaki took it

"I guess you will"

"Excuse m--oh, it's you" the two teenagers' attention was drawn to the outside, where a man stood with a vaguely surprised look on his face.

It was the waiter.

"Ryuuzaki-san" the man looked at the pale teenager with much more interest than he had with Raito earlier "I think you want to stay here"

Ryuuzaki raised an eyebrow "I do? Hn, how interesting. May I ask why?" the waiter glanced at Raito before leaning in and whispering into Ryuuzaki's ear. The teenager's expression stayed the same, but he turned to address Raito "Apparently I do want to stay here, but you can go home"

Raito frowned "You sure?"

"Yes" the brunette shrugged and headed out the door "See you, Ryuuzaki"

"Goodbye, Uke-niisan" Raito attempted to glare at the other, but the playful glint in Ryuuzaki's eyes made it come out half-hearted.

The brunette walked out into the chilly March night.

- - - - - - -

God, again with the lack of L! TT TT I'm so sorry. I swear, the next chapter will be L-_centric_.

Mission for reviewers: Tell me your favorite drink (just 'soda' or just 'juice' etc doesn't count; you have to say what kind, too. [I've never met someone whose favorite drink was juice...])

Please review~~~

Until next time!

Chu~


	8. Chapter 7:Be Sure To Look Both Ways

Hi! Lookie: a new chapter! But you know, I'm starting to think I should rename this "The World vs L". Our little detective has no chance at all ^^

Any similarities in the real world to events, people, or circumstances in this story are completely coincidental. Oh, and I don't own Death Note.

I just watched some of Code Geass, so I've been wondering: does Lelouch seem like a Clamp-style Raito or is it just me?

Thanks to **Black-Dranzer-1119**, **Racharae**, **FreeTheChickens**, **jjwitdaheydiddydiddy**, and **Zilander** **Kat** for reviewing!

Music-Mood: I Want Nothing (not by The Black Ghosts)

Chapter 7: ….Be Sure To Look Both Ways

- - - - - - -

L bit at his thumb slightly harder than normal, the only visible sign that he was agitated. This whole night had been very distracting for him. First, that little blonde twat Misa popped up and _really _freaked L out. Never, in any of his calculations, had L ever suspected that Misa-Misa would be attracted to him. Ever. She was a Raito-fangirl all the way. Yet, she hadn't even given the brunette a second glance. And when L left, she followed him _everywhere_--acting all happy and Misa-Misa-ish just like she had with Raito in the former time--until L finally just called a car and escaped via vehicle.

Second, Watari calls and tells him that his heirs are _missing_. And not just Mello and Near, but Matt too. Matt was supposed to be the _good _kid, the one that more or less kept Mello from getting into trouble. He wasn't supposed to go off and _help_ him do it. And there were no hints as to where they went. They just disappeared into thin air. If it hadn't been for their stuff going with them one might suspect kidnapping, but with Mello…let's just say that Mello had been the victim of attempted kidnapping before, and it didn't end well.

And L still couldn't find his heirs. It had been nearly a whole day since they went missing. Really, his heirs were nearly as eccentric as L; how could nobody notice them? Especially with all three of them grouped together.

The third thing on the list of annoyances was that now it would appear that there was a person (possibly person_s_) here that knew he was L. _No_, not problematic at _all._

"Hey, detective, could you come up here for a second?" L was brought out of his irritated reverie by a voice calling to him. The pale man turned to the voice, and found the man who had kept him here leaning out of the staircase in the wall "She wants to talk to you"

Hesitantly L moved to follow the other man upstairs. His thumb remained at his lips as he remembered what the man had whispered to him earlier _"I don't think you want your friend to see this, L"_ The detective sighed inwardly as they walked towards the end of the upstairs hall. This was all very troublesome.

"Hurry up"

L glanced at the man, who hadn't even looked back when speaking to the detective. The man was already half-way down the hall, and L sped up his pace to catch up and get whatever this was over with.

The two turned a corner and down a couple stairs, and L was faced with the door he remembered finding Raito at. The insomniac was still a little confused by what the brunette had been doing, but now L didn't have time to think about it. The other man opened the door and gestured for L to enter, and the moment he did he was tackled to the ground by a blonde. For a scary moment L thought it was Misa, but then he noticed that this woman's chest was far too large to be Misa.

"Aw, he's so cute!" the woman squealed, bouncing in her place on L's lap where the two had fallen "I've never seen such a cute person before!" she took L's chin and turned his face, her sea-blue eyes absorbing every angle.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" a voice called from another room "Aren't I cute?"

"No, dear," the woman looked over to a door in the far wall of the room "_You're_ sexy; _he's_ cute"

"That makes no sense. We look the same" the voice's owner stepped through the door, and L felt himself pale.

Standing there was L's copy.

The blonde jumped up and skipped over to the Other L, linking her arm into his "Of course it makes sense. You are you and he is he"

"Hn"

"Have you found Kira yet?"

"No. I don't know how anyone gets around in that room of hers. It's a bloody labyrinth. It's a good thing we don't have maids, cause they would disappear into there never to be seen again"

"Says the man who built it"

"Yeah but Alistair designed it!" L listened to the exchange, his copy seemingly losing the battle, which somehow offended L a little.

"I thought you were supposed to be a genius" the blonde accused.

Other L pouted, and then poked the blonde's cheek before starting towards L "You dropped your accent"

"Oh!" she clamped a hand over her mouth before glaring at the copy, a Texas accent now coating her words "Ya couldn' of told me earlier, could'ja?"

"I was never really fond of the voice-changing" the man stood in front of L, who hadn't risen yet and tensed when Other L held out his hand. This made the copy laugh "Come now, I'm not going to hurt you. You're the last person I would harm these days" L looked dubious and stood up without taking the hand.

"Beyond? Aren't you supposed to be in prison?"

"No; I got out a couple years back. But they never told you that, did they Lawliet?"

L growled slightly "No they didn't" his frown deepened. Why hadn't L noticed BB when the detective had died? L's attention was almost always focused on Japan, since that was where Kira was. L slipped his hands into his pockets "Do you think I'm going to let you stay here now that I know you've broken out of prison?"

BB laughed "Broken out? I guess you could put it like that. They would never believe you though" he smirked wickedly "They would never admit to having been unable to contain me. Besides, they think I'm dead. They had a body and everything"

"Rue~~~" the blonde woman whined and draped her arms over BB's shoulders "You have to find Kira~~~. Don'tcha know it's disrespectful to leave the dead waiting?"

"Alright, I'm going. Back to the maze of doom…" BB wandered back to the door he had come from and disappeared into the depths of the room beyond.

The blonde smiled after him and then turned to L, holding out her hand "Hiya, cutie. My name's Kiki, but right now I'm going by Mona"

Ryuuzaki took her hand, deeming her safer than BB "I'm Ryuuzaki"

Mona cocked her head, looking slightly confused "I thought you were L"

L sighed "People aren't supposed to know that"

"Oh. Ok then; Ryuuzaki it is. So, you're coming with us?"

"I'm…not sure" it took a lot for L to say that "I was told—kind of—that something here would be in my interest"

"Ah, I bet it was Alistair who told you that" she beamed "Then this is going to be fun! Alistair's guesses are almost _always_ right"

L watched a bit awkwardly as Mona radiated happiness. The detective thought for a moment before deciding it would be best to tell her about BB; it would be too easy for someone like her to end up used and hurt by someone like BB. She might not believe L, but he had to try.

He pulled her over gently and had her sit on the bed and L stood in front of her, his thumb placed before his lips "You do know that…Rue…was in prison?"

"Of course I do! Rue and I don't have any secrets"

L gave a sad smile inwardly. Beyond really had her fooled "So you know why he was in prison?"

"Yeah yeah, he went on a little killing spree. What's your point?"

"In his 'little killing spree' he murdered people in completely grotesque ways"

"Yup" Mona smiled "Quite talented ain't he?"

L gaped "You…your okay with that? He killed people--and then he tried to kill himself"

"And?"

"And he was a _murderer_"

Mona leaned back and crossed her legs, her short skirt rising slightly "We are all murderers Ryuuzaki. The only difference is the victim and the method"

L was speechless--which was rather strange for him--and just stared at her. How did she come up with a logic so twisted?

There was a triumphant 'Aha!' from the room Beyond had disappeared into, and L stepped closer to Mona and lowered his voice "You may want to rethink your boyfriend, Mona-san"

"He's not my boyfriend"

"I found Kira!" BB walked into the room, Kira riding on his back. Kira laughed and pointed at L.

"See? I told you they look the same!"

Beyond blinked at how close L and Mona were "Hey, Lawliet, are you hitting on my wife? And Kira, don't point. It's rude"

L stared for a moment and then did a quick check of Mona and Beyond's left hands, and both had an identical silver band adorning their ring fingers. It was something L couldn't really process: Beyond Birthday married? It just seemed…wrong, in some way. The detective stared at BB again, his mind wandering to the rest of what BB had said.

Beyond quirked an eyebrow "What?"

"You're BB"

"Yeah"

"Beyond Birthday?"

"Yup"

"The murderer"

"Again, yeah"

"Who has killed people in gruesome, disgusting ways"

"Is this going anywhere?"

"And you're telling your child it's _rude _to _point?"_

"Someone's got to teach her"

"Would you teach her it's wrong to kill?"

"Of course not. That would be hypocritical"

L stared.

"It's rude to stare you know"

"You're unbelievable"

"Of course he is!" Mona chirped happily, hopping up and linking her arm with L's "Or else he wouldn't be married to _me!_ Come on, let's go; Ali's a-waitin'!"

L was forcibly pulled along be the blonde, BB trailing behind with a laughing Kira on his back.

_Trapped on both sides…_L thought miserably.

When they reached the ground floor the man who had kept L there (and who was consequently now the victim of L's internal wrath) was sitting on a counter, smoking a cigarette and reading a book. When BB hit the bottom stair Kira jumped off BB and dashed towards the man.

"Nii-san!" the girl leapt into his arms, drawing grin and 'oof!' from him. She bounced excitedly "We're going now, right nya? There's gonna be cherries; there's _gotta_ be cherries!"

Her brother chuckled quietly "Yes Kira, there will be cherries"

"Yay!" Kira looked as if she was going to hug him, but she paused and took off his glasses, carefully setting them aside, before knocking him off the counter in a vicious hug.

Mona stepped over to the counter, keeping her arm in a suspiciously secure grip around L's and picked up the basket that had been sitting next to the man "And off we go!"

Kira bounced off her brother and towards the door "Yay! Picnic! Picnic!"

L watched the girl, wanting to cry. _She's a mini-Misa…_ Then L frowned "You're going on a picnic? It's the middle of the night"

BB stepped up next to him and L shied away slightly "This is the best time for it; no one's around and we can do what we want" he glanced at L's tense body and sighed "Loosen up Lawliet. Revenge is a stressful job, and you haven't even been at it for a year and you're all tense. You're gonna give yourself a heart attack if you keep this up" BB followed Kira and the man out the door. Mona tried to follow, but L stood his ground.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To the cemetery. Ya don't hav'ta go, but it's the last place your heirs were seen" she tugged on L's arm "So ya comin'?"

L paused. It could all be a trap; after all, BB was involved--but this _was _the first supposed lead L had gotten on his heirs. The detective sighed "Alright"

"Good!" Mona dragged him along into the night air "We've never had anyone but family on these trips before!"

"Hn" L nibbled on his thumb.

It was true: there was no one in the streets and their group moved through them at a leisurely pace. Mona stayed latched onto L until Kira came up and asked her to race her to the cemetery. L gratefully watched the two run off ahead of the group, flexing his hand to get the blood flowing again.

L wasn't alone for long though. Kira's brother fell to the back of the group to join the detective, falling into step with him "I haven't introduced myself. My name's Alistair"

L nodded a greeting "You know who I am, though I don't know how"

"Well, there aren't many Rue look-alikes"

"He's _my_ look-alike" L sighed "Why do you call him Rue?"

"Because that's what his name is"

"His name is Beyond" L thought too late that the other might not know who Beyond was. He shook his head slightly; he might have gone too far with the alcohol earlier.

"Right now he wants to be called Rue, so that's what his name is. And it's not like you can say anything about being called something that isn't your true name, '_Ryuuzaki_'"

L didn't respond.

Alistair looked at L for a moment "You know, I'm glad you feel different than that brunette you were with earlier"

The insomniac blinked. Feel? "Raito?"

The other nodded, and spoke quietly "I get a bad feeling from him. My sister and I aren't always told about the things Rue and Mona keep their eyes on, and I don't know what Rue meant when he said you're getting revenge, but be sure to be careful around Raito. It would hurt Kira if something happened to you" he looked L straight in the eyes, and L noticed the shade of Alistair's left eye, which was lighter than the other black one. The difference was somehow disorienting, and sent shivers down L's spine. Quite the accomplishment, really "Alright?"

"…alright"

"Good" Alistair turned his eyes away to watch his family fool around in the streets before continuing in an offhanded manner "I'd bet he's more dangerous than even that blonde earlier" a small smile flickered across his features and he murmured "I haven't seen that much leather since walking in on Mona and Rue in bed"

L blinked and, ignoring the information he _really_ hadn't needed to know, zoomed in on the words 'blonde' and 'leather'.

"What blonde?"

"I saw him at a corner store an hour or two ago"

"Was there anyone else with him?" L knew he had started sounding eager, and worked to restrict his voice.

"Yeah: an otaku-looking redhead, an albino, and a timid guy" he glanced at L "They're who you're looking for, right?" Alistair pulled a slip of paper and a key and held it out to L "This is the place they'll end up in"

L peered at the key "How do you know?"

"Mona arranged it. When she came here, Mona made sure to make connections. You'd be surprised how much she has a hand in" while speaking he took L's hand and closed it around the objects "If you want to get away you'll have to go fast. Mona's been dying to meet you, and now that she has she won't let go easily"

"You seem very willing to go against what they want"

Alistair shrugged "Family is important. You shouldn't be kept away from them"

L just watched Alistair for a moment, and then walked quietly out of sight of the family.

- - - - - - -

"What. The fuck"

Matt laughed a little as he watched Mello storm back from the front desk, leaving behind a disheveled check-in clerk, his scowl firmly in place.

"They don't have any rooms then?"

"Of course they don't" the blonde sat by Matt on the bench "_Nobody_ in the _whole_ of Tokyo has a single room open" he rummaged around in his pockets, and his scowl deepened before he looked through the rest of his clothes, finally finding a bar of chocolate "At least that bastard Esper is gone"

"He was a bit strange"

Mello snorted "That's an understatement. Never figured out the hair colour-change thing…"

"Or the personality change. It's not like he was all that bad though"

"Are you kidding? He almost got us killed"

"You're always almost getting yourself killed"

"Yeah, but I don't let you go down with me"

"Aww. Mello, I didn't know you cared!"

The blonde glared.

Matt's smile wasn't deterred "I guess we should keep searching then"

Mello grunted and stood up, heading towards the lobby exit "We're gonna end up on the fucking streets"

"It wouldn't be the first time. Oh, stop grumbling Mello. It won't be that bad"

"How do you know?"

"It's called optimism"

"Stupid…"

"Shut up"

"Make me"

Matt rolled his eyes "You're such a child"

"_What _did you call me?"

"A child, and that's what you are. Now cross the street before the light changes"

Grumbling, the leather-clad teen raged across, scaring off the tiny number of people out that late. Matt calmly followed him, simply ignoring the looks the two always got.

"I'm sure we'll find somewhere to stay" Matt said, trying to pull Mello out of his little pissed off pit.

"We've been everywhere; they're all either closed or full. What's with that anyway? Was there a fucking huge surge of tourists or what? It's not like Japan's all that interesting"

"I don't think you should say that in public…"

"Nobody's even out here!"

"True…oh wow. That's unusual"

"What?"

Matt pointed at a little flickering sign a ways down the street. It simply said 'House For Rent' "I can't remember the last time I saw a house for rent in Tokyo"

"It doesn't look like a house"

"Well, it says house"

"So?"

"Oh, just come on" the red-head linked his arm with Mello's, pulling him towards the sign.

"Matt, we're not fucking house shopping"

"I know. We're renting, not buying"

"Same difference!"

"No it's not!"

"We don't need a whole house!"

Matt jerked to a stop and spun to face the blonde "Mello, I'm tired. We had a fucked up plane ride, I'm still low on nicotine, and we almost got shot to death for no apparent reason_. You_ might be used to things like that, but I'm not,and your insistent complaining isn't making anything better. I don't care if I sleep on a rock as long as I get to sleep but you do seem to care, so I'm_ trying_ to make something shut the fuck up and _stay _quiet"

Mello stared wide-eyed, shocked by the outburst and Matt's irritation, which was almost never directed at the blonde. Mello scowled, but nodded.

"Thank you" Matt took Mello's wrist and tugged none-too-gently.

The two didn't speak the whole way to the 'house'. Mello had been right when he said it didn't look like a house; really, it looked like a small store, squished between two other shops, but it was three stories tall. Matt pushed the door, and it was unlocked and swung open. They stepped in and found no one in there, but neither of them were really surprised; there wouldn't be anyone at this time of night. The redhead shrugged inwardly and started to a staircase that wound upwards in a corner.

Mello raised an eyebrow "You're just going to walk in and stay?"

Matt didn't even look back "Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

The blonde growled and followed Matt up the stairs, but he didn't say anything. What Matt had said earlier still rang clear in his mind.

The second floor was entirely extra rooms, such as living rooms and a kitchen, and when they reached the top floor it turned out to be one huge room, except for a single door which probably led to a bathroom. In two corners there where curtains, though one of them was open and showed a bed so Matt guessed the same was for the other curtain.

"Well what do we have here?" Matt jumped and his eyes snapped to the probably-bathroom door to see Esper leaning on the doorframe, grinning.

Mello groaned "Fuck he's back"

"So glad to see you missed me"

"_Why_ are you here?"

"There was nowhere else available. Seems you had the same problem"

"Yeah, well, karma apparently has it in for us"

"You're not the only ones" Esper pouted "I had a hell of a time getting away from the guns when you shoved me out right in front of them"

"Not like you didn't deserve it"

"The handcuffs weren't appreciated either. Come to think of it, you're pretty kinky aren't you? Leather, hand-cuffs, pistol…." Mello glared _and_ growled "Whoa! Scary little puppy!"

The blonde took a step towards the taunting teen but Matt pushed him back "Don't fight; I already have a headache"

Esper cocked his head "But it's so easy…"

Mello struggled to get to the laughing other, but Matt squeezed his arm painfully "Mello, don't make me hand-cuff you to the sink again" the redhead looked at Esper "And please stop provoking him"

Esper chuckled "Alright, alright"

"Thank you" Matt shot Mello a warning look before letting go of him and turning his gaze to Esper "So, I'm guessing the only beds are in here"

The blonde-tipped teen nodded "Yeah. But the beds are big, so you two could share if neither of you want to sleep on a sofa. Don't expect me to give up mine"

Matt quickly spoke to keep Mello from answering "We don't care; we'll share a bed" it'd been a while since Mello and he had shared, but it wasn't like it was an uncommon event; though Mello had been more adamant on Matt staying on his side lately. Besides, neither of the two geniuses were in the mood to sleep on a sofa.

"Great. I don't like this bed, so you can sleep in it" Esper gestured to the corner still covered by a curtain.

Chocolate reappeared in Mello's hand and he ripped off a chunk "What's wrong with it?"

"Oh, there's just this thing about it that kinda freaks me out" Esper approached the bed and as he walked past it he pulled the curtain along with him, revealing three words in red bubble-letters:

Kira

waz

here

Matt rubbed his temple, his headache growing "Well that's…interesting"

Esper nodded "Yes, I thought so too. Especially when I noticed it's written in blood"

"You're kidding"

"Nope" Esper scratched his cheek absentmindedly "Hey, to change the subject completely, didn't you have another dude with you? An albino?"

Matt and Mello blinked and then glanced at each other.

"Aw, fuck it!"

- - - - - - -

Raito stepped into his house, everything quiet except for the slight droning of Sayu's snoring from down the hall. The brunette let out a slight sigh of relief; he'd had the small worry that someone--like his father--would be awake and ask why he was coming home so late. He would have had a perfectly good excuse of course, but it wouldn't have been great if Raito's father told L of the incident and the detective used against him should he ever accuse Raito of being Kira. Because, of course, a teenage boy staying out to all hours of the night would be _so_ suspicious.

As he climbed the stairs Raito briefly debated whether or not to take a shower, but decided against it since he didn't want to wake anyone; he'd just take one in the morning. He opened his bedroom door to be greeted by a gothic-dressed blonde on his bed.

"Raito! You're finally home!" Misa stood up and walked up to the surprised teenager, reaching behind him to push the door closed "Misa-Misa's been waiting for a while now"

"What…why are you in my room? How did you get into my house?" despite being very _very_ slightly drunk, Raito had still checked his door and nothing had been out of place; both the paper and the pencil lead were in their proper place. This girl had either known what she was doing or broken through his window, which Raito doubted since his window was still intact.

"I'm here to see you of course!" she pulled a key that was hanging around her neck like a necklace out of her shirt "And I got in with a key"

Raito narrowed his eyes "Where did you get that?"

Misa remained unfazed, and put a finger to her lips "Ah, now that's a secret"

"Tell me"

Misa waved him off and jumped back onto his bed, bouncing slightly "You don't have to worry; I'm not stalking you. In fact, I'm here to help you, as long as you do me a favour"

The brunette quirked an eyebrow "And what favour would that be?"

A mischievous and slightly sinister grin emerged on Misa's features "Help me make Ryuuzaki mine"

Raito blinked and frowned "Make him…yours?"

"Yes. I've only seen one other like him before in my life, and I won't let him get away" her smile brightened to something that more suited her "He's just too cute!"

"Huh" the self-proclaimed genius crossed his arms and leaned back against the door "And what do you think you can help me with?"

"Ah, that" the blonde pulled a lacy black bag from behind her, resting it on her lap and hugging it to her chest "I will help you with what you are trying to do"

"Which is...?"

She grinned again and pulled a black notebook up out of the bag just enough to let Raito see the familiar white letters written across it.

"Change the world"

- - - - - - -

So hey, does anyone even remember that pencil lead in the door thing?

And while this is kind of backwards, this chapter is my birthday gift to all of you! Nya-ha: my birthday's today so I thought I should get around to posting this (I was born at 7:40_…why _am I not a morning person?)

Mission for Reviewers: *dramatic music* _Someone(s)_ is going to die in chapters to come! Who will it be? How will it happen? Let's hear your guesses on victim and method…

Bonus Mission: People people _please_ review Megumi Yunai's second chapter of 'To Be His Hollow'. She refuses to write until she gets 10 reviews and, as her co-author/beta, it is _very_ irritating!!!! If you review her story, I will give you a favour (just nothing weird, kk?). Oh, and if you do review her, don't tell her I asked you to. Dunno how she would react to that...

Please review (this chapter too!)

chu~


	9. Interlude Of Many Moments

On a completely different note, I just looked back on Of Slytherins, Snakes, and the Japanese...and it scared me TT TT My style of writing has really changed since then. Or at least I hope it has. I'll probably go back and rewrite it, but that won't be for a while....

Enough of my annoying blabbering that none of you really want to read.

Thanks to **Zilander** **Kat**, **jjwitdaheydiddydiddy**, **Racharae**, and **Black-Dranzer-1119** for reviewing! I love you all ^^

Behold the interlude! Enjoy!

Music-Mood: Warm Air

Interlude Of Many Moments

_- - - - - - -_

_Matsuda you annoying little fuck._

L sat in front of a computer, analyzing a list of names. That thought had been rather un-L-like, but he was angry.

Very angry.

So close--he had been _so close_ to getting to his heirs--and then what happens? He gets a call from Matsuda. L had had half a mind to just ignore the call, but responsibility kicked in and made him answer. Of course, it being Matsuda it had taken a minute to get him to speak calmly, but once he could what he told L had been a bit irritating: they apparently had something interesting involving Kira's victims.

L supposed he would have been pleased by this if it weren't for the fact that Matsuda was an idiot--and thus not credible--and that L already knew that nothing interesting would pop up until Raito graduated and his father had a heart attack.

However, with urging from Watari (who took over the call from Matsuda and told L in a bout of elderly control that his heirs could take care of themselves) L had returned to his building to look at the discovery. And the one thing that really _really_ annoyed L, was that they actually _had_ found something interesting: a particular list of people killed by Kira.

People who weren't supposed to have died.

The detective supposed that he had been lazy with tracking the deaths, and he knew that there would be a few differences since L was affecting when Raito saw the news and such. But they weren't just different people; they were _more_ people. A lot more people. L hadn't looked into who was killed when this time round, but once again, now he wished he had.

Though, that wasn't what caught the rest of the team's attention. How could it? No, it was the fact that all the people on the list were on death row, and they all died of a heart attack at the exact time they were due to be executed. Before they died, each carved a letter somewhere in their cell. Now L knew that something was wrong. Something was drastically wrong, because not only was the list so extensive, it had been sent to him.

From _Canada._

- - - - - - -

Mello awoke to shouting. Which, to be frank, was a little weird cause usually it was Mello doing the shouting. This change in pace told Mello it was going to be a bad day. Again.

And of_ course_, the outburst was in well and good (Mello had nothing against Estonians with the exception for one particularly fat one that owed him ten grand) if it wasn't for this one little fact:

Mello didn't understand Estonian.

The foreign words flew right over Mello's head--loudly--and the blonde found himself envying Matt's talent for sleeping through anything and everything. Mello then told himself that it was stupid to envy someone like Matt, whose life revolved around video games and cigarettes.

And possibly Mello.

The blonde moved that thought aside, not really wanting to think about it. He would never admit it, but he was exhausted. Having to clean a bloody wall (who the hell spells 'was' with a z anyway?), and convince a short-tempered Matt to let Near wander Japan until morning did not help one's sleep patterns. Mello sighed and sat up, eyes scanning the room for the source of the voice that forced him from sleep, and found Esper sitting on his own bed across the room looking very pissed off and still shouting. Every once and awhile he would pause, as if listening. So. He was talking to himself. Arguing, really.

Mello had just known they'd picked up a loony.

He watched Esper for a minute, kind of amused at how long the teen could go, before digging around in the bedside table and finding a book. He threw it at Esper to get his attention. Mello's aim was off (granted not by much), but he was feeling lethargic so he let it slide. "Shut up"

Mello hadn't realized he'd spoken Japanese until Esper threw up his arms and his words flipped to the language "Japan! _Wonderful._"

The teen let out an angry puff of air and climbed out of the bed. He started towards the stairs, but stopped when there was a groan from beside Mello.

"Melloooo. Lay down or get off the bed; your pulling the blankets off" okay, so maybe Matt could sleep through _almost_ anything and everything.

Esper shook his head and muttered "Where the hell did he land me this time..."

Mello cocked an eyebrow, ignoring Matt's whining as usual "What are you muttering about?"

"Nothing that concerns you, pretty-boy"

Mello growled and lunged at Esper, grabbing him by the collar. The inch or two the blonde held over the other wasn't impressive, but it helped "I _dare_ you to say that again"

"Whatever, _pretty-boy_"

Mello's hands moved to Esper's neck.

"You think you're intimidating don't you? Tch. Pansy"

Mello growled again and slammed Esper against the nearest wall "You ungrateful brat! You should be thankful to us for not killing you for all the shit you put us through!"

"Why should I be grateful to people I've never even seen before!?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mello pushed him harder against the wall--consequently moving closer--and something flickered in Esper's now dark-sapphire eyes. Yet another colour-change, which pissed Mello off even more for some reason. But before he could do anything Esper shouted in his face. "Fuck off!" He kneed Mello hard in the groin and the blonde nearly doubled over, loosening his grip on Esper. The teen jerked free and ran to the stairs.

"Little bastard" Mellow gritted out and chased after him.

Matt stared after the two and then snickered, pulling up the blankets and sighing happily before slipping his eyes closed.

Mello easily caught up with the fleeing teen"Hey!" he grabbed Esper's shoulder and spun him around, before punching him hard across the face. Now, a lot of people say that when something dramatic happens, it's like time stops or slows down as to magnify the event.

Time didn't stop when Esper fell back and tumbled over the edge of the staircase railing. The only thing that stopped was his scream, cut off when he connected sharply with the floor far below.

There was a shout from the floor above and Matt appeared, running down to Mello. He peered over, eyeing the precariously low railing, to see Esper's body. Amazingly, it didn't look like the teen had broken anything, but he definitely wasn't moving. Or breathing."Whoa. I didn't think you'd actually kill him" the red-head paused and then started down to the first floor, and Mello quirked an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"We can't just leave a corpse out in the open. Wanna pull a Sweeny Todd?"

Mello made a face "That's disgusting"

Matt made an amused sound as he lit a cigarette "I didn't notice how high up these stairs were before. It's a real high ceiling for such a little place, huh?"

"Well it _is _three stories" he wasn't sure why, but Mello felt particularly curious that morning, and he decided to ask something that had been bugging him for awhile now. "Why do you sleep with your goggles on?"

Matt stopped and looked back, surprised "What?"

The blonde gave him an impatient look "I _said_, why do you sleep with your goggles on?"

The other looked away for a moment, as if in deep thought. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak there was a loud sound. Mello and Matt's eyes snapped down, unbelieving.

Way down below, Esper's face was split by a wide grin and he was shaking with...laughter "Hahaha! I can't believe you did that! You really pushed him off the...ha! You made him fucking pass out! Oh bloody hell...heheha--ow! Oh...heh...man, I think he broke a rib..." snicker "Damn that hurts...ha! Oh God make it stop..."

"Fuckin' hell....." Matt turned and raced down the stairs, and Mello followed by default (cause really, there wouldn't be anything half as interesting as this upstairs). When they hit the bottom floor, Esper seemed to have calmed down and he sighed, pressing his palms into his eyes.

Matt crouched down beside him, cigarette hanging from his lips, momentarily forgotten. There was no noise for a few long moments, and then the redhead reached out and poked him.

"Yes?"

Matt jumped, as if he hadn't really believed that it had been the other who had just burst into laughter. There were more moments of silence, and then: "...You're alive"

"So glad you think so"

"How?"

"Don't ask me. Esper was in control when it happened"

"....but _you're_ Esper"

"No" The teen sat up, winced, and rubbed his chest "Damn. Gonna have to pay doctor bills again. Well anyway, I'm not Esper. I'm Albel" he stuck out a hand "Pleased to make your official acquaintance"

Matt looked at the hand for a second, and then shrugged and took it "Official?"

"Yeah. We've technically met before, I just let you think of me as Esper to keep things simple. You see, Esper is what some might call a schizophrenic"

Mello snorted "Oh _really_?"

"Let him finish. This is kinda interesting" Matt leaned his head on a hand "Please, continue"

"I will, after food" he shook his head and muttered "I swear he goes and starves himself _just_ to piss me off" he stood up and drifted over to a door.

Matt looked up at Mello "Think we should follow?"

The blonde snorted "Can stop you?"

Matt grinned and stood up, going in the same direction as the Esper-Albel "You could, if you wanted to. You just never seem to really try..."

Mello frowned, but then waived it off and followed the other.

The connecting room was a kitchen, and the two found the Esper-Albel sitting on a counter popping M&Ms from a large bowl. He glanced at them and raised a hand in greeting "Yo" he tilted the bowl "Candy?"

"No thanks" Matt perched on a stool "Tell the rest of the story now?"

The other laughed "Story huh? I swear, this is completely true"

"We'll see about that" Mello leaned against the counter behind Matt and pulled out a chocolate bar "Why don't you start with your eyes?"

He blinked "My eyes?"

"They change colour. It pisses me off"

He grinned "Oh! That's just a thing that happens when we switch around. Don't know why....you know, it annoys Esper too"

"Like I care"

Matt chimed in "What about your tips?"

"What, the little blonde bits?" he shrugged "It's like the eyes, only it just happens with me" he grinned again "Nothing ever happens to Esper's hair when Aki's in control. I'm _special_"

Mello scoffed "There's _three _of you?!"

"Yes! We're the Tragic Trio!"

Matt choked back a laugh "The Tragic Trio? Why?"

"Cause our pasts are _fucking _depressing! Well, if you stick them together anyway. But Nearly-Tragic Trio doesn't sound as good, ne?"

Mello shook his head disbelievingly "Why do you sound so happy about all this?"

"Because I find it amusing. I mean seriously, what are the chances of three such screwed up guys finding their way to each other?"

Matt looked at Mello and smirked slightly "Not as slim as you'd think" he quickly looked back to Albel, ignoring Mello's glare "So what about your pasts makes them so _tragic_?"

Mello's glare turned incredulous "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"You have no idea"

Albel glanced between the two and then smiled knowingly for a moment. The moment didn't last long, and the grin returned "I'll give you a deal! You can choose any three of us to hear about, and I'll tell you all about them!"

"This is stupid" Mello mumbled.

Matt ignored his blonde comrade "Tell us about Esper. He's the one who actually fell from the stairs, right?"

Albel nodded "Yup. You can always tell it's him from his ever-awful mood and....er, I think his eyes are dark blue"

"Sapphire..." Mello murmured.

"Ooooo" Albel smirked "Been looking deep into anyone's eyes lately?"

Mello rolled his eyes and refused to take the bait.

"......bah. You're no fun. But anyway! Esper! The one whose body we all inhabit and have for multiple years. Now just to decide where to start..." he stared up into space and popped another M&M into his mouth, and he sat for a moment before starting "His family was annoying. Real straight-laced, with those big fancy schools and all that. And Esper...wasn't. He's kinda the failure kid, you know what I mean? His parents compared him to his sister a lot and that put a lot of stress on him, especially when he dropped out of high school. And when they found out about Aki in his head when Esper was 11...or maybe 12...I wasn't there at the time so I forget. But anyway, after they discovered Aki they put Esper under intensive religious therapy. Aki tells me it was _really _boring, and if he said that it must have been hell" he shook his head somberly "I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't such a moody son of a bitch. Esper, that is. Ah well. Let's move on to the bright patch in his life: his sister! Real piece of work she was. We got along well; more than me and Esper do. She could have been my twin"

"Huh" Mello fell onto a stool, tired of standing "I'm starting to figure out why he's such a bastard. Anyone would be short-tempered if they had _you _living in their head"

Matt snickered as he lit another cigarette, his first one burnt out.

"Whatever you say, blondie" Albel set aside the empty candy bowl and moved to the pantry, and started digging through to find more food "I think his sister really broke him when she died though. He despised her at first, for most of his life really, but about a year before she died they started to get along. The whole story is long and boring, so I won't tell you all of it, except that they went from worst enemies to best friends in a month. Then, it turned out that she had Manic Depression" he grinned at the memory "Serious mood swings if you could recognize them. At the time I wasn't living in anybody's head, and I kind of lived with her. She could get _real_ bitchy sometimes too..."

Matt let out a stream of smoke "It's not really nice to speak ill of the dead"

"Hey, it's not _my_ fault she jumped out a window"

Matt frowned "I thought she fell"

"....."

"Hello~~?"

"Did Aki tell you that?" he sighed and rocked back on his heels "Damn. I hate it when he's subtle! It always throws me off"

Mello found more chocolate "So she committed suicide?"

"Yup. Well, no...kinda? It's complicated and I really don't want to get into it. I'll tell you another time. Maybe. I'm getting bored..." he groaned and rubbed his face "Esper's waking up. He's gonna give me such a headache...ah well. At least I didn't say anything about the alleyway incident, so he can't get angry 'bout that..."

Matt's eyes had started to wander the kitchen, and he located a TV on a table. He stood and drifted over to it "Waking up?"

"Yeah. He passed out when he fell from the stairs. He has this thing about falling, 'cause of his sister"

"Huh" Mello nibbled on his chocolate, thinking.

"Oooo; has my tale interested Sir Blondie?"

"Sir Blondie? That's the best you can do?"

"Yes, well, I enjoy making fun of you, so I'll take what I can get"

"Weirdo"

"At least I'm not kinky"

Mello growled and grabbed an apple out of a basket on the table, and threw it at the teen as hard as he could.

Which apparently wasn't hard enough, cause he just plucked it out of the air. He made a pleased sound and hopped back to his counter "Wow, it's been ages since I've had an apple! How I've missed you...."

"Again, _weirdo_"

"Oh come on. Your otaku friend is pretty weird, but you don't poke fun at him do you? Really, with the hair, and the goggles, and the _eyes_..."

Matt sent Albel an unreadable (to Mello, anyway) look from the table, and then he proceeded to flip on the TV.

Albel snickered.

"_What_ is so funny?" Mello snapped.

"Life, my friend. Life"

"Gargh! Come over here so I can strangle you!"

"I kindly decline--oops" he laughed and ran around the kitchen as Mello chased him, shouting obscenities.

Matt ignored them.

"I thought you said you broke a rib?!"

"That is _completely_ insignificant to the current circumstances!"

"No it's not! You're not supposed to run like that with a broken rib!"

"I assure you, Esper will bitch to me about it all week"

"That's not the point!"

"I'm afraid it is...."

"Oh my God" Matt sounded somewhere between shocked and amused "Mello. Come look at this" Matt waved the blonde over, and said blonde ceased his pursuit of Albel.

"What?"

"It's a news cast--"

"Since when do you watch the news?"

"There's really bad signal in here; it's all I could get. The news station got a message saying that Kira would appear on their channel"

"Kira?" Albel peered at the TV "Huh. That's kinda funny: Esper's sister's name was Kira"

"I don't think this is her"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was"

"But she's dead"

"Exactly"

"You make no sense!" Mello shouted.

Matt reached up and pulled Mello down "Shut up; it's coming on"

The screen suddenly went static-y, and an image came up. In the top left was the word 'recording' flashing on and off, and in the center of the image was a busty blonde woman tied to a chair. Her eyes were blindfolded and she had a gag.

A gravelly voice started speaking in English, and Japanese subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen "Hello, citizens of Japan. I am Kira, and this is a message for L: we have hostages--_fifty_ of them--and we're all hiding out somewhere in your lovely country. Here is the game: if you can find us within two months, then we won't harm any of the hostages. But if you happen to fail...." there was a click, and then a gunshot. The woman flinched "I'm sure you can imagine the consequences. Now, a few words from are pretty female friend..." hands came into view of the camera and pulled off the blindfold--revealing angry sea-blue eyes--and the gag. The woman scowled and yelled at the camera.

"Rue! Get your lazy ass into gear and come get me! These morons have no sense for crime! Honestly, is it too much to ask that if I have to be kidnapped, I want to be kidnapped by someone intelligent? And to take us all the way to Os--"

The picture fuzzed out into black, but sound still came through. There was crashing and they could hear the woman again.

"Keep your hands off me you fucking Kira wanna-be! And put down that gun; those things are dangerous! Hey! I said_ hands off_! I'm a married woman I tell you! Gar!Die!" the shrieking continued for a while, and then the screen flipped back to the news and a disheveled news castor.

"O_kay_..." Mello rubbed his neck.

"Poor woman" Matt didn't sound very sympathetic "Bet it wasn't Esper's sister though, was it?" the cherry-head looked back at the schizophrenic.

Albel was gone.

- - - - - - -

So.....hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring or weird. Sorry if it was ^^'

I was trying to fill in some of the blanks with the OCs. . .

And look at that! I have nothing else to say. But I can't leave out the mission can I?

Mission For Readers: Who out there can tell me where I discovered the name 'Mona', and can guess why I gave it to BB's wife?


	10. Chapter 8: False God Part One

OH MY GOD!!!! It's been over a month since I updated! I'm so sorry! TT TT All the characters where running away from me...I couldn't write _any_ of my stories, which is really saying something.

And then the dreams started. First Cauliflower-phobic zombies, then insane clowns, and then one of those freaky puppet-things from Devil May Cry 1 appeared in my room when I woke up. It was scary *sniff* *sniff* TT TT

And I'm sorry again. Esper does not have schizophrenia. As was pointed out to me by jj, he probably has Dissociative Identity Disorder (or DID. Don't wanna be mean, but that acronym makes me giggle..."I DID him..."). Hehe...Sorry 'bout that! The whole DID thing is really interesting, and it's fun to read about. You should go see ^^

Also! As I told Racherae, it has been decided that Matt and Mello are 17, and Near is 16. Now that that's out of the way...

I want to take this time to identify my official smut-er. **Evil and Loving It** is now part of my writing circle (well, it's really a line...), and is in charge of helping with any smut-y scenes to occur in the future.

Now I must thank my _gorgeous_ (or, uh, handsome? Are any of you guys?) reviewers: **jjwitdaheydiddydiddy**, **Black-Dranzer-1119**, **Racharae**, and meh new friend **archangelraphaelsdaughter**!

Oh, and by the way, I own NOTHING! There is not a single Death Note object in my house--sad, but true.

Enjoy the chapter!

Music mood: Walking on Sunshine (weird--I listen to this, and other miscellaneous happy 80s songs while writing a _Death Note_ fanfic. . .)

Chapter 8: False God—Part One

- - - - - - -

Raito sat in the crowd, listening as the speaker droned on and on about the school and the college students entering it. He couldn't help but let his mind wander. The past month had been very dull for the genius, and yet somehow interesting.

To say that Raito had been surprised to see Ryuuzaki at the entrance ceremony would be an understatement. Ryuuzaki should have been dead; once Misa had left Raito had promptly written down Ryuuzaki's name in the Death Note--though he had given him a rather painless death since the other had provided interesting company. Seeing the strange teenager perch on the seat next to Raito had been quite the shock, especially after thinking him dead for nearly a month. And speaking of shocks....

Who would have guessed that Misa had a Death Note? And she had written a few names down as well, though certainly not as much as Raito. She seemed dumb enough to be useful, and she _was_ offering herself

_"Misa-Misa will kill for Raito whenever he needs her to."_

_"I don't need anyone to do my job for me"_

_"Raito doesn't know everything! A time will come when he'll need Misa-Misa's help, just wait and see. When you need me, Misa-Misa will find you. Just remember: with a new year comes new opportunity, and with opportunity comes choices and decisions!"_

It disturbed Raito that Misa had known about him being Kira. She had to have done the eye-exchange to know...though that could be helpful. The low number of names in her Death Note proved that she lacked initiative or confidence to pull off something by herself, so she needed Raito. She could be the perfect tool.

Raito had thought that perhaps by killing Ryuuzaki he had lost her, but now that he turned out to still be alive, Raito had that option. No, Ryuuzaki's continued existence wasn't a complete loss. Though, part of Raito was pleased that the strange teen had survived. He just had yet to figure out why...

As well as disturbing him, it pissed him off that Misa seemed to know something the brunette didn't. Pissed him off even more that she had right out said he didn't know everything. She had refused to elaborate on what she'd said. She wouldn't even talk about anything else; she just left after that. He just knew that he was going to hate working with her.

Too bad she hadn't been the one kidnapped by those--what would you call them? Terrorists? They certainly weren't anything close to Kira. The bastards had serious confidence to use _Kira's_ name for their petty games. They didn't even get anything out of it; there was no ransom for the hostages' safety. Maybe they were thrill-killers...

Raito blinked. Had Ryuuzaki...? He could have sworn that the teen had just shot a guilty look at the brunette. But why would he be...?

"And now a few words from our freshman representatives: Yagami Raito, and Hideki Ryuuga" the audience broke out in murmurs; two representatives? When was the last time that happened? Raito had only _heard_ of two people delivering a speech together before. But wait. Ryuuga Hideki? Wasn't that that idol his sister was crazy about?

As the brunette started towards the stage, Ryuuzaki stood and followed him up. So that was what the look was for. Did Ryuuzaki think that Raito would be..._angry_ at him? Because he gave him a fake name? Maybe Raito should have been angry--after all, the other had lied so easily to him, and dodged the brunette's attack on his life. But...Raito couldn't bring himself to be angry. It kind of made sense that one shouldn't give out your real name, especially with Kira's existence. Perhaps Ryuuzaki was more aware of Kira than he had seemed to be.

But then, Ryuuzaki shouldn't know about names' relevance to Kira.

Raito watched Ryuuzaki out of the corner of his eye as the hunched teen read to the audience. When he finished the crowd clapped, Raito bowed, and Ryuuzaki rubbed the back of his neck in what would have looked like shyness on anyone else. The two then left the stage, Raito once again leading.

"Raito-kun..." Ryuuzaki spoke behind Raito, and hesitated "I know that you are son of the police chief Yagami Soichiro. Your sense of justice is very great like your father's is. I've heard that you've made numerous critical contributions to help solve crimes in the past, and that you're now interested in the Kira case. I trust in your sense of justice and your investigative skills, so if you can promise me not to tell anyone else, I'm willing to tell you something rather critical relating to the case"

Raito paused and looked over his shoulder at the weird teen. What is this? Something critical to the Kira case? He closed his eyes for a moment, collecting thoughts, and then started back towards the seats "I promise. You can tell me"

"I work for L"

Raito's eyes widened minisculy. Worked for...L...

He had been right. How close had he been dancing with death?

"Is Raito-kun angry with me?"

Raito stopped again and turned, half-facing Ryuuzaki. The other had a worried look on his face "No...no, of course not. Why would I be angry?"

"I lied to you"

"If you work for L, then it would make sense for you to not tell your real name to anyone. It's alright, really"

The worried look cleared and he smiled. So cute...whoa! Weird thought! "Thank you. I'm telling you because I want you to help on the case and...I've been able to convince L to let you. You'd have to do something first, but he will let you in"

Raito put on a mask of innocent surprise, while inside real surprise reigned; Ryuuzaki could_ convince _L of something? "Y-you want me to help?"

"Yes. You don't have to decide right now; just think about it"

"...alright. I'll think about it" Ryuuzaki--ah, but he's 'Ryuuga', isn't he?--smiled again, and the two returned to their seats.

Raito didn't let his body show how tense he was. Ryuk laughed behind him, and the human didn't have to look to see the creature's pleased grin "If he is who he says he is, this will be fun..."

Irritation nagged at the brunette's very being. Ryuuzaki just sat there--watching the rest of the ceremony with bored eyes--and Raito couldn't do anything to him! ......okay, that sounded a little dirty. _Damnit! What's wrong with my mind?! I meant kill him; I meant I couldn't kill him! Not...anything else..._

Raito strangled a sigh. Damn. He couldn't lay a finger on...he couldn't _harm_ Ryuuza--Ryuug--oh fuck it his name was Ryuuzaki! The name Hideki Ryuga was obviously fake. L--if Ryuuzaki himself was not L--had assigned that name to Ryuuzaki as a safeguard: if Raito wrote 'Hideki Ryuuga' into the Death Note, the idol would jump into his mind and likely be killed instead. That would make Raito a prime suspect to L, to entire investigation team for that matter.

If--again, _if_. Irritating word--Ryuuzaki was on the investigation then he must know Raito's father. That would make sense; Soichiro had acted strangely calm when Ryuuzaki had appeared late at night at their home. His father was a rational person, but when something like the pale teen showed up on his doorstep even _he _would have been a bit surprised. He had also been oddly...smug. Grr. Raito didn't like that his father had something over him. Raito was finding a lot of things he didn't like lately, like how his eyes kept looking over at the dark-eyed teen crouched next to him.

Okay, he needed to stop thinking about this. If Ryuuzaki was L, and even if he wasn't, L was most likely trying to get Raito to make a mistake.

Raito just had to act naturally....

* * *

L's eyes watched the new college students flow from the Touou doors. He had gotten out before Raito, and now he was waiting for the teen to exit the ceremony hall so the detective could finish the event, and repeat what had happened last time. He ignored the stares his car, driver, and himself were getting.

His eyes finally caught the coppery-brown of the evil-genius' hair, and L called out to him "Raito-kun" The teen paused at the call, and L saw Ryuk speaking behind the teen. That Shinigami had better not say anything that would hint to L's game "Raito-kun" the brunette turned and headed towards him, and L faced him completely "Thanks for today"

"No, thank you" same response as last time.

L turned towards the open door of the car "I'll see you around campus?"

"Yes...nice seeing you again"

"You as well"

L was driven off, leaving behind the minor crowd of students. Raito heard them talking

"He's got a car and driver. I wonder what family that guy is from..."

"And he got a perfect score...I'm a little jealous"

Raito watched the car fade away as the cherry blossoms swirled around in its wake. Really...

Who was Ryuuzaki?

- - - - - - -

So.

They were together again.

Not unexpected.

They were at Touou.

Not that weird.

They were playing tennis.

. . .

How the hell did that happen?

Raito sighed inwardly at his seemingly redundant habit of ending up in places without knowing how he got there. Or why. It wasn't like he didn't like tennis though, and he had been wanting to play someone who would last against the genius. However, for some reason Raito didn't think Ryuuzaki would be that someone.

Really; Raito had met with the guy--what, four times?--and he already knew: L lived off sugar. He had no posture (of the healthy sort anyway). He likely didn't exercise much, for he was white as a geisha, and as skinny as a starved dog.

Meh. He had to stop thinking about Ryuuzaki's (yes, he would continue to use that name. Ryuuga would just be weird) tennis abilities and more on how to act around him. Raito really should treat Ryuuzaki like he would L, since anything done or said around the worker of L would no doubt end up being known to L. Like an ant poison, the ant, and the queen.

Except, the one who died wouldn't be the queen.

Raito decided to start a conversation "Just a friendly match, Ryuuzaki? I should warn you I have some tennis experience"

Ryuuzaki shifted his loose grip on his tennis racket "No worries Raito-kun. I placed first in England's junior championships"

They reached a court and Raito let the tennis bag slide from his grip. As he pulled out a racket he vaguely registered Ryuk floating over to the side-lines. That was a bit strange; it wasn't like the Shinigami had any fear of being hit by the ball since he could only be touched by Raito. Well, unless Raito hit it at him (which he wouldn't) or messed up the hit and sent it towards him (which he wouldn't). Ryuk had nothing to fear....ah well. He was a Shinigami; he got withdrawal pains from lack of apples. What more need be said?

Okay, so the athletic assumption on Ryuuzaki had been wrong. Way wrong. And while it pained Raito to accept that, he sucked it up and went on with things.

_But would L get suspicious if_ _I asked Ryuuzaki whether or not he's an English citizen? _Regardless. . .it was worth a try "You spent your childhood in England?"

"Lived there for about five years" the dark-eyed teen looked at Raito "Don't worry. This bit of information is useless as far as L's or my own identity is concerned"

_I see..._

Ryuuzaki started towards the other end of the court "Play to six?"

"No problem"  
Raito waited as Ryuuzaki approached his end of the court, and thought back on how this had come about. It had been Ryuuzaki who had contacted Raito (as Raito still didn't have any way to contact the--was Ryuuzaki really a detective? Or just a double for L?), and challenged him to a game. _But why did he challenge me? Does L hope to investigate me? To match me to the personality he associate's with Kira? Ryuuzaki has made his stand-point on the whole thing a bit vague, but then, everything with him is vague. And he had convinced L to let me help with the investigation. . .which I still haven't decided to do yet. It would be more difficult if I did; my information and what I could and couldn't do would be restricted some. If I had someone else to help. . ._

Wait. Was this what Misa had been referring to?

That bitch.

How did she know this would happen? Was she in on things with L? Damn, that girl was so difficult to read. Such was the way with extraordinarily stupid people.

_Po-k Po-k_

Raito focused his attention on Ryuuzaki as the teen tossed the ball into the air, his back straightening more than Raito had ever seen it. _It isn't as if any conclusive evidence can be drawn from a friendly match. . .Kira, though, doesn't lose._

_Fwip--thok!_

Raito blinked as the ball shot past him, and stared wide-eyed at his opponent.

_Po-k Po-k _"Fifteen, love"

Raito grinned at Ryuuzaki, rather pissed off inside "Oi oi, isn't it a bit early to bare your fangs, Ryuuzaki?"

Ryuuzaki laughed "Just catching you unawares, that's all"

_Ah. Is that so._

Ryuk cackled off in the sidelines, and Raito sent him a subtle glare. He could have sworn Ryuuzaki had shot the Shinigami an amused look. That had to have been his imagination though. . .

Ryuk's cackling increased in volume, and Ryuuzaki sent the second ball into the air.

_had_passeditwouldbelike_tomorrow_O.O

_Fwip--thok!_

The two teens ran across the courts over and over, chasing the ball and beating it viciously to the other side. Students had congregated outside the fence in the space of three minutes, word of the two highest scores playing each other spreading across the campus like wildfire. They stared, awe-struck, and quickly-developed fangirls squealed.

_Po-k--fwip!_

Neither of the players noticed the teacher who had been called over (the two _were_ using the court without permission), who had pushed to the front of the crowd and stopped wide-eyed to stare at the two "Are these guys really amateurs. . . ?"

Fwip--thok!

_Relax, Raito-kun. Though it's true that Kira isn't someone willing to take a loss in a competition, the will to win does not belong to him alone._

Po-k P-ok

_If I got at this at full strength, will he see me for who I am? If I lose on purpose it'll seem unnatural. Either way. . ._

Thok

_It's all the same._

Fwip-fwip po-k

_There are too many unknowns involved for a match like this to be of any use to the investigation. In other words, Ryuuzaki has some other purpose in mind. No reason to throw the game._

The brunette hit across, and the pale teen narrowly missed the ball.

_See? I'm winning._

The two stood panting for a moment, and Ryuk floated at an angle to the side and up a ways off the ground "Kukuku. We've even got a linesman and referee. This is more fun as last time; much more tense. . .perhaps 'Ryuuzaki' will succeed"

Raito ignored the Shinigami's rambling, and tossed the ball into the air to serve.

"Kukuku~. But then, maybe he'll die again"

As Raito swung down in his serve, he noticed something like irritation flicker across Ryuuzaki's features. The ball spun towards the raven-haired teen, and he shifted his grip and hit the ball underhand. But the ball went too high, and veered off to the side.

And hit Ryuk right in his open, laughing mouth.

The Shinigami jerked and started choking.

Raito gaped at the Shinigami, only brought back to the moment by Ryuuzaki speaking "Raito-kun? Did you see where the ball went?"

The brunette looked at the insomniac, who wasn't paying any attention to the suffocating Shinigami "Huh? Oh. No, no I didn't"

"Hm" Ryuuzaki cocked his head "How odd. I suppose we'll just need another ball. . ." he looked off to the side, and watched for a moment as the linesman went off to get a ball from the basket in the corner of the court. He looked to Raito again, his gaze slightly apologetic "I'm sorry. That was a quite badly laid hit. I haven't played so hard in a long time; I must have been getting rusty"

Raito smiled kindly "It's fine. I haven't played like this in a while either. It's kind of nice, really"

"Yes. . ." the linesman tossed the ball to Ryuuzaki, and he nodded his thanks. He bounced the ball once "Shall I serve?"

"Sure" Raito settled into position, and started thinking again.

_Between us, there's been no mention of the Kira case. To be frank, the purpose of this so-called friendly match has very little to do with building our friendship. It's an act meant to give the impression of a strong friendship where nothing of the sort exists._

Fwip--thok

_Should any mention be made upon the subject of the investigation, it would be reasonable for me to demand proof of Ryuuzaki's identity. Should I become part of the investigation, Kira gains an edge against L. Knowledge of L's progress also covers the leakage of information identifiable only by Kira. I know L's next move. He wishes to confirm my identity by using a third party._

Po-k

_Regardless of the situation, defense is never the best offence. If one wants to win, he must strike first._

Ryuk finally managed to swallow the fuzzy green ball whole, and he gasped and clutched his neck "Ugh! I seriously thought I was gonna die!"

Raito glanced over at the Shinigami, biting back the urge to smirk at the creature's expression. But that was his mistake.

Fwip--thok

Po-_k_!

The ball flew past Raito, and bounced out of the court.

Ryuuzaki had won.

- - - - - - -

I'm so sorry about the parts thing! I hit the length limit for IAJ (cause of the way my IAJ pages are formatted on OneNote) but the next part will be up soon!

Mission for Readers: Tell me. . .your favorite pairing of all time! Yaoi or otherwise.

Bonus Mission: Vote on my new poll, and guess what the series it refers to will be about.


End file.
